The Partnership in the Tourism
by QuiteRightToo
Summary: Bones takes Booth and Parker on vacation with her when the boys summer plans gets cancelled. They learn about Bones through friends they meet. Will Bones and Booth finally see the light? Set shortly after Hannah's exit.
1. Plans Revised

**Quick A/N: I'm new to the whole posting a story thing, so if it's wrong don't shoot me. Posting formats are my kryptonite. I also don't own Bones so don't sue. I was going to make this a crossover but couldn't decide between Royal Pains, White Collar, or Psych and since it's my first time out of the gate I decided to go with none of the above. It's my first time writing fanfiction, getting inside a characters head that isn't from my own imagination is crazier than I thought it would be. Here goes. This takes place right after Hannah, but Bones never said what she did in "The Doctor in the Photo"**

**Still don't own Bones.**

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"You can't be serious." Temperance Brennan said with a slight shake to her head, "Gormogon was a flesh eating person if you recall, but that doesn't make him one of the dead." She arched her back slightly as the FBI issued vehicle made its way down the road, "If you are dead, you stay dead."

Seeley Booth rolled his eyes, glancing at his partner before turning his eyes to the pavement before him, "Bones, I'm not saying that zombies are real, I'm just saying that…Parker went to a friend's house and watched a movie about them, had nightmares all week." He shook his head, annoyed that some careless parent let young boys watch something that would terrify them.

Temperance reached down between the seat and the door, and grabbed the lever to adjust the position of her chair. "Well." The back of the seat went back some, and she let out a contented sigh, "Well, you need to set him down and tell him that it is preposterous to think that there is such a thing as zombies." She shook her head, "And vampires, werewolves, wizards, psychics, Santa Claus…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, while I agree on the first couple, Santa Claus is staying in the mix of the still plausible." Booth said with another glance at his partner, who looked much more at ease with the chair adjusted to her liking. Hannah had changed the setting while riding with him on one of their last dates before the break up. It just proved how much Bones and he had grown apart that it had taken her almost a month to make it 'Bone's seat' again. "I'm just…look, Bones, as someone Parker looks up to and respects, I was just wondering if you could tell him that you, you know, think zombies aren't real and all. But, leave out the part about Santa Claus."

Temperance looked out the window for a few minutes gathering her thoughts. On one hand it seemed odd that Booth would select her for the task. While she understood that children took news like this better from someone other than their parents, as parents might lie to make them feel better, she didn't understand why Booth chose her out of anyone else on their team. But on the other hand, she was glad to be asked for something like this, it felt like old times, doing something to help each other out; and if she were to admit it, she really missed seeing the young Booth around, she hadn't seen him since before her trip to Maluku. "Of course, I will talk to him, and even though I don't think it is a good idea to lie to children about things, I promise not to mention that an obese man can't ride all over the world in a sleigh carried by animals that can't actually fly." She scoffed, "And how does he know what all children want anyway? Why should he get to decide who is on the alleged naughty list?"

Booth bit back a grin, "its all part of the fun." He gave a slight shrug, "Thanks for this, I'll call you sometime this week since we are staying in this week." Since it was summer break Parker was staying with him for a few weeks, unfortunately they had had plans to go on vacation, but the plans had to be cancelled when the place they had planned to go –a place that had cabins for rent, modern camping- had call to inform him that it would have to close due to repairs. "Is there a day that would work better for you?"

Brennan bit her lip and shook her head, "Actually, I'm not going to be in town this weekend."

Booth slanted his eye line towards his best friend once more, "Oh? Is there a book signing somewhere?" He asked casually, after all it was the first he was hearing that she wasn't going to be in town. "What if there is a case?"

The car was silent for a few minutes; Brennan rolled her shoulders and opened her mouth to respond when a shrill ring went off between them. Booth reached down, blindly grabbing his phone, "Booth. Yeah, hold on," He handed the phone to Bones, and she put it on speakerphone, "Brennan."

Angela Montenegro's voice boomed out of the little electrical device relaying the teams' latest findings, making the suspect they had in the holding cell 100% guilty. The conversation put on hold, as they talked about what they would say to the suspect to make him confess, not that it really mattered when they had proof that it was him.

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Temperance looked around her office trying to make sure that she had everything she needed, now that their current case was over, she was going to take off a few more days than originally planned. She felt a little guilty not letting Booth in on her plans, he was her partner after all, but their relationship had been so strained, they just weren't as close as they once were. That, and, Brennan was self-conscious about letting everyone know where she was going. Angela didn't know either, but, then, Angela had been a little short with Brennan lately.

Dr. Camille Saroran knocked on the door frame of the office before walking in, "Dr. Brennan, are you sure you want me to call you if a case comes up? You're taking some time off, and you're allowed to…relax."

Brennan shook her head, "No, that's alright. I won't be here to give my full attention to the case, as I have other things planned, but I can take a few minutes here and there to help out if there is need for me. While my interns are highly intelligent they don't have the proper certifications needed to be taken seriously. If something were to go to court it could be thrown out. Plus they are still learning they are always missing things. We catch murderers. I would rather be bothered now for a few minutes of my time, than know a murderer got off because I wasn't available to help." She shrugged. Pulling a few files off her desk, "These are the 'limbo' cases that I want worked on while I'm gone; I've assigned interns to each one, and will look over them when I return. Do you require anything else of me?"

Cam shook her head, amazed that Dr. Brennan always seemed to be one step ahead, "No." She took the files, "This is fine, I'm sure they will be happy to know that just because you are gone doesn't mean they have the week off." She shrugged, "I hope that you have a good time Dr. Brennan."

Temperance looked at the doctor before her and nodded, "I am hoping to as well, it's been a while since I have been down to visit my…friends. Thank you for allowing me to have a few more days off then I had originally asked for. I just thought that I would get out now and have a few days more time to spend taking in the sights."

Camille nodded, "It's no problem, you hardly ever take time off, and the work that you do speaks for itself. You are here all time, and to be honest I know I will sleep better not worrying that you are spending the night in the lab staring at bones." She said speaking of all the times the team has taken turns making sure Brennan is alright in the labs 'babysitting' her on particularly hard cases. She held a hand up when Brennan started to protest, "I know that you can take care of yourself. But, it's what friends do, look out for one another. Have you told Booth that you are leaving yet?"

Temperance nodded, "I told him this morning before Angela called." She hadn't really thought to before that. After all, he was taking a two weeks off to spend with Parker.

There were the sounds of footsteps headed in their direction, accompanied by whistling, before Booth strolled into the room, Parker hurrying in afterwards. "HI Bones, Camille." He grinned.

"Seeley." Cam responded before turning to the younger of the Booth boys, "Hey there, Parker, been a while since I've seen you around."

Parker gave a small smile, "I know. Dad's been super busy and hasn't had time to bring me around lately. But I'm here now." He said before turning to Bones, "Hey Dr. Bones! I'm so glad to see you!"

Brennan found herself returning his smile, "Hello Parker. I'm glad to see you as well. You've certainly grown some." She replied, only half noticing Cam use the files to wave and make her way out of the office. "How have you been?"

Parker grinned, "I've been just great. While you were…um…at the Mal…lu…place I went to England with Mom and Brent. It was awesome!." He smiled, before the corners of his mouth dropped, "But dad said you had something you wanted to talk to me about. Something about zombies?" He said with a bit of unease.

Brennan looked at Booth before turning her attention to Parker, motioning for him to take a seat on the couch. Brennan sat down next to him, "I did. Bo-Your father informed me that you watched a movie about zombies?" She waited until he confirmed with a nod. "Well." She paused, thinking of how to word this. "Well, I've seen a few movie previews out there about zombies, and they look pretty frightening to me. I just wanted to make sure that you knew that they weren't real." She paused, she didn't like lying, but she didn't want to let Parker know that Booth ratted him out for being scared. So she didn't see a preview, but she'd seen advertisements, it's hard to miss them staring at you out of practically every magazine. "I know, because I work with…the deceased…It's just Hollywood's way of making money. But they aren't real, otherwise your dad would have to give me a gun just so I could do my job safely here at the lab." She paused and chanced a glance at Booth who shook his head at her, 'Not going to happen." He mouthed with a smirk.

Parker's smile returned, though a little dimmer than before, "Really? I mean…they aren't scary to me, but they aren't real?" He waited until Brennan nodded her head, his smile brightened, "Good, I'm glad that you'll be safe here because…Zombies aren't real."

Booth was amazed how quickly Parker accepted Bones confirmation on zombies. His son seemed to place all his respect and trust in his partner, and his partner wasn't bad either. When he first met her, she wouldn't have ever thought to make it seem like she was worried about Parker knowing that zombies weren't real. She would have said something like 'I know you were scared after watching a movie, but zombies aren't real…blah, blah, scientific fact, blah.' But she had worded her sentences in a way that saved his son's pride, and for that he was grateful.

Parker looked around the office more at ease before turning his attention back to his favorite scientist, "You leaving work early Dr. Bones?" he asked after noticing her belongings all ready.

Temperance followed his eye line to her bags and nodded, "I'm taking the rest of the day off to go home and pack, I have a plane to catch in the morning."

"Where you going?" He asked his voice full of childlike curiosity. Booth knew that he should tell his son it was rude to ask for information like that unless dealing with a suspect, but he wanted to know that answer too.

Brennan tilted her head and smiled, "I'm going to Maine, I'm going to meet up with some friends and take in the sites that Acadia National Park and a few other tourist attractions that Maine has to offer."

Parker got a wistful look in his eyes, "Sound neat. Dad and I were going to go stay in a cabin, down in Virginia, but now we can't" he shrugged, "So we are going to camp out at home and watch old movies. Pig out on popcorn." His smile returned.

Brennan looked at both Booths, "Hey Parker, did you see that new poster I received? I'm thinking of putting it up in my office, but I don't really have the room. Do you think you'd like to take it home and put it up? It's right over there if you want to look at it." It was a promotional poster of her new book, for a future signing, but it took Parker's attention away from the two adults. She turned her eyes onto Booth, keeping half her attention on Parker, "I know it's short notice, but you could always come with me."

Booth looked at Parker, noticing he was interested in the poster shaking his head, "I don't know. You said you were going to meet up with friends, and I don't want to get in the way of that. It wouldn't feel like tagging along on your vacation, Parker and I will be fine. Like he said, movies and popcorn. How can you go wrong with that?"

"You could end up in the hospital with clogged arteries, and terrible eye strain." She said drily, "As for my friends, there will be children his age that he can play with. It's …I haven't really seen them as much as I should have in the past years, but they are like family to me. And you, Booth, you are part of my family too. So much more so, and if I minded or thought they would mind, I wouldn't have asked."

Parker was grinning when he returned to the two adult's side, "I can really have it? Will you sign it for me Dr. Bones?"

"Hey Parker," Booth said drawing the boys attention away from his scientist idol, "Bones asked us to accompany her on her trip. How would you feel if we didn't do the movie thing this weekend thing this week and do it sometime next week? It would be healthier." He rolled his eyes at Bones, letting her know that new didn't over look her reply about his plans.

Parker's eyes lit up like it was Christmas morning, and he jumped up and down, "Can we, please? I promise I'll be very good and I'll do whatever you say, and please?" he asked his father.

Booth glanced at Bones, "You're sure you don't mind us tagging along with you?" when she shook her head he nodded to his son, "That means we have to go home and pack for a trip, and I'll have to call your mother and let her know." He turned to Brennan as his son fist pumped in excitement, "What time is the plane leaving? Do I need anything extra?"

"I'll have to add two more tickets, if they can be on the plane I'm slated to take in the morning then we will have to be at the airport by 7am. Since we aren't leaving the States, you won't need a passport, so just bring what you think you'll need." She shrugged pulling out her smart phone.

Booth put his hand on his son's shoulder and rewarded her with a smile, "Thanks Bones, are you sure you want to handle the tickets? I can do it, since we're last minute,"

Temperance shook her head, looking up from her phone, "It would make more sense for me to do it. The original ticket is in my name, and if we want to be all together than I should be the one to make the arrangements. Plus, I'm ready to go besides a few odds and ends that I still need to pack. You have only a few hours to get packed for two, logically, It makes since for me to do it."

"Logically." He agreed with a smile, it was almost like old times, "Then just let me know what it sets you back, and I'll pay you." He said, applying a little pressure to his son's shoulder to get his attention, "I guess Parker and I will go pack, and we'll be at your place 6:15am tomorrow morning. Thanks again Bones."

Bones nodded watching them leave, biting her lip from saying she didn't know what he meant by setting her back. Setting her back where?

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**I know it's short, but how am I doing?**


	2. Bodiless Flights

**Hey! I'm so glad people are alerting and reviewing this, especially since I was feeling bad about how short the first chapter was and read it on my phone to see how it looked there since that's how I usually read posts. And then I noticed all the mistakes. YIKES.  
And I know that Brennan doesn't have any friends outside of the lab, but I took some creative license there and made her have some, thanks for being awesome Bones fans and trying to correct me though! :-D**

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After leaving the lab for the night, Brennan returned to her apartment, making a light dinner she opened her laptop and prepared to make changes to her vacation plans. Calling the airport she was able to arrange for three seats together, first class, which she knew Booth would get a kick out of. She thought about moving them to a hotel, giving them some privacy, but knowing Avery there was probably enough room for them all to have privacy. After taking care of the tickets she called her friend to let him know that there would be two more people coming. Yes, one of them happened to be her partner. No, they most certainly were not dating.

After a hot soothing shower, Temperance placed the last few odds and ends in her bag, and called Booth to let him know that the flight time was still the same. Once that task was complete she slid in between the sheets, trying to force her thoughts out of her mind, excited to be spending time with her partner again. Worried about his reaction to the group of people she secretly held dear to her heart. Her last conscience thought was wondering what Sweets would have to say about that, and drifted off to sleep.

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A loud pounding pulled Brennan out of a deep slumber, glancing at the clock she muttered an oath and forced herself out of bed, down the hall, and opened the door to reveal two smiling Booths on the other side. "Morning Bones!" Booth said, "I know they say to travel in comfort but I don't think that's what they meant." He added taking in her attire of a tank top and girly boxer shorts.

Rolling her eyes, she stepped aside to let them in, "I apparently forgot to set my alarm clock, give me ten minutes and I'll be ready." She made eye contact with Parker and grinned, "Good morning Parker."

"Morning Dr. Bones! I can't wait to go to Maine." He grinned.

Brennan made an attempt to reply before hurrying back to her room to get dressed and prepare for the day. Placing her toiletry bag in her suitcase she carried it out into the living room, "Okay, I'm ready. I'm sorry; I can't believe I forgot to set my alarm."

"I can't believe it only took you seven minutes to get ready. I timed you." Booth said with a chuckle, "We won't be late, and if we are, you can always promise to send an autographed book and smooze your way through." Taking her bag, he handed her a travel cup filled with coffee, "I know you can carry your own bag, but for safety hazards sake I'll take the bag, you drink the coffee. I'm not dealing with cranky Bones."

"I don't know what that means, smooze is not a word." She frowned, before taking a long pull of the coffee "and I'm not cranky." She waited until they were out of the apartment before pulling the door closed and locking it.

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Booth watched Parker press his face against the window studying planes as they landed and took off. It had been a grueling process getting through security even with Bones letting them know the night before that an FBI agent would be on the plane, and so would his gun and badge. But after stopping for a quick breakfast in one of the airport restaurants they were finally waiting for their plane to board. "So, will Parker be going on his first dig this week?" He asked casually still feeling guilty that he and Parker were crashing Bone's vacation.

"No, no bones this weekend, unless someone ends up murdered on this plane ride too. In which case, I think it would be better if we stop traveling by planes." She said with a small smile.

Booth opened his mouth to reply, when an announcement came over the speakers to let travelers know that they were now boarding first class. Booth prepared to wait, but Brennan stood up and called to Parker, standing he raised his eyebrow in query, "First Class?"

Bones shrugged her shoulders, "I don't see why we should be cramped on vacation, and I thought it was better to place your seats with mine, so you don't get in trouble again."

"Very funny Bones." He replied putting the strap of his bag over his shoulder and grabbing Parker's hand, "Come on bud, follow the funny doctor." He placed his hand on the small of her back as the trio made their ways through the check point, onto the plane, and to their seats. Parker taking the window seat, Brennan took the middle, and Booth the aisle seat. After putting their bags in the above compartment he made a show of stretching out in his chair, "Yeah, I can get used to this."

Brennan rolled her eyes pulling some gum out of her bag, "Here Parker, you might want to chew a stick of this as we take off." She handed one piece to Parker and one to Booth, before taking a piece for herself. Putting the pack of gum away she pulled out a magazine, Booth was highly amused to note that it was a science magazine. That was his Bones. As the flight attendants went over their safety procedures he took the time to look over his partner. It was nice spending some time together, and they were going to have a whole week. Ending things with Hannah was the best thing that could have happened or he wouldn't have been here. He really needed to rebuild his relationship with his best friend, and prove to her that he isn't going to leave her. Seeing Hannah was not a mistake in his book, it showed him that he was more committed to Bones then he realized, however allowing Hannah to follow him home was a mistake. It hurt Bones, it hurt him, and it hurt Hannah, made him feel like a heel. As the plane took off Bones and Parker made big shows of chewing their gum grinning at each other, and Booth couldn't be any more content.

When the plane leveled out and Parker turned to his handheld game, Booth nudged Brennan with his elbow, "So these friends of yours, you're sure that they don't mind we are coming?"

Brennan shook her head, "If anything they will be grateful to have someone else on the house to pin the murder on." She said with a slight smile, and gave a short chuckle at the look on his face, "Not that we are planning a murder, but, let's just say, there is a reason we don't get together too often." She shrugged.

"I guess that would explain why I've never heard of you having friends outside of our team." He said before wincing and trying to back pedal, "I mean, you're so dedicated to what we do, and your bones…I'm not saying that you're friendless outside of our group."

"It's never been a secret that I don't make friends that easily Booth." She glanced around and Booth knew that she was debating sharing something with him. After giving Parker a long look she turned to Booth and sighed, "We all have scars on our back Booth, and these people helped me with mine." She tilted her head, "After helping me out of a tight jam, we became…sort of a family."

Booth didn't know the whole story behind this group of people, but he got what she was saying. One of the people he was probably going to meet got Bones out of the trunk of a car that her foster parent locked her in for breaking a dish. "Wow. Bones." He said at a loss for words, "This is….I mean…"

Brennan rolled her eyes, "You say that now," She straightened and reopened her magazine, "But that's only because you haven't met them. Come Friday…come end of tonight, and you'll be willing to fill out the paperwork required after firing off your weapon." She said with a sly smile, and Booth couldn't help but be amazed by this playful side. This was going to be an interesting week indeed.

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They landed in Bangor International Airport after a relatively pleasant trip; Booth took delight in getting off the plane before the rest of the passengers. Parker was doing a prancing dance that only little kids seem to do, and Brennan turned to Booth getting his attention with the touch of her fingers on his arm. When he turned to look at her she cocked her head to the side and he turned his attention to his son. "Ah, right, that would be the bathroom dance." He grinned as they made their way through the airport. Both looked around for the restrooms, finding one they headed in that direction, "Come on, Bud, let's make a pit stop." Booth set their bags down and left Brennan in charge.

Walking into the bathroom they noticed that it was taken care of better than most men's restrooms seemed to be, probably because security in airports being so tight. Parker practically made a mad dash to an empty stall and when he came out his father was leaning against a wall waiting. "Dad, does this mean you're going to be Doctor Bones' boyfriend now?" He asked running his hands over the sensor and making water come out of the faucet.

Booth's body jerked forward in shock before he settled back watching Parker apply soap to his hands, "No, we're just friends" he said, "This is Bones and I getting our friendship back on track, remember how you said the other day that we haven't seen much of Bones? I'm trying to make that all better."

Parker moved over to the paper towel dispenser running his hands over the sensor numerous times, delighted in the paper that kept coming out, satisfied with the amount he ripped it off and started drying his hands, "And then, you'll fix whatever you did to her that made her not want to be your girlfriend anymore?" he asked with a childlike innocence, throwing his crumpled up paper towel away.

Booth cringed pulling away from the wall, "I'm hoping to fix that too, Bud." He put his hand on his son's shoulder and ushered him back out into the busy airport, ignoring the amused looks of the other occupants in the restroom. Moving to stand next to Bones he smiled, "No more potty dance from these men."

Brennan smiled and handed him his carryon, "It was amusing, and I think that baggage claim is in that direction." She pointed to her left, "I'm thinking that once we get our rental car, we should stop and get some lunch, I know you to boys must be about to complain that you are starving, even though we had breakfast hours ago and you couldn't possibly be starving." She smiled.

"Funny." Booth said with an eye roll, "And now that you mention it, I could eat a horse."

Temperance turned to him with a horrified expression which caused Parker to burst out laughing and Booth had to steer her away from another passenger that also wasn't paying attention, "It's an expression. I don't really want to eat a horse, and I don't really think I'm **that** hungry." He chuckled and they moved to wait with the rest of the passengers from their plane at the baggage claim.

Spotting their bags he and Parker moved forward and grabbed them off the belt before they could pass and moved back to Brennan, after dividing up the bags so that no one was overwhelmed they moved out of the way and started to make their way to the car rental when Bones pulled up short. Booth turned to follow her eye line and sputtered noticing one of the gentlemen from the restroom holding up a paper towel with "_Doctor Dead"_ written on it in hurried handwriting. Brennan made her way over to the man quickly pulling the paper out of his hands and crumbling it up. "Oh, Haha, Christopher, you think you're so funny." She glared at him with an affronted look.

The gentleman in question shrugged sheepishly grabbing his duffle bag and throwing the strap over his shoulder, "What can I say? I noticed you at the restrooms and you looked right past me, I feel so unloved. Personally, I was thinking of taking you right out of my will, but then I thought to myself, let's embarrass the good doctor."

"It's not embarrassing." Parker said, standing between his Bones and the newcomer, "It's mean, and de-demeaning." He said with a quick look to Bones to see it that was the correct word. "It's not nice to call _Dr. Temperance Brennan _that when it's not her name" he crossed his arms as if to further his point.

Christopher looked taken aback, and nodded at the little Booth, "You're right, Little Man, I shouldn't have played a mean joke on the good doctor here." He held his hand out to Parker. "I'm sorry."

Parker looked at the offered hand, then glanced at Brennan before turning his glare back to the stranger, "I'm not the one you should apologize too."

Looking amused the man turned his attention to Tempe and grinned, "I'm really, truly, deeply sorry for any pain or suffering I might have caused you with my…demeaning…attack on your character." He said and tilted his head trying to look contrite but the shadow of a smirk on his face betrayed his attempt.

Brennan rolled her eyes but nodded, "Forgiven." She said turning her attention to Booth and Parker, "Guys let me introduce you to Christopher Relic, world class annoyance." She turned to Christopher, "This is Booth." She motioned to Seeley, before turning her attention to Parker with a smile, "And this little knight, is Parker."

Christopher grinned holding his hand out once more to the outspoken child, "Nice to meet you, good to know that Tempe has someone looking after her when I'm not around." He said.

Parker looked at Bones out of the corner of his eye before taking the other man's hand, "It's….nice…to meet you too." He didn't really think so, but his father taught him better manners then to say that out loud, "I look after Dr. Bones when I'm around, she's the coolest grown up I know." He paused thinking over what he said and blushed, "I mean Dr. Brennan." He felt bad calling her Dr. Bones after yelling at Mr. Relic for calling her Doctor Dead.

Booth stuck his hand out next, "I'm Booth, Temperance's partner." He said, "So I watch her back when the little guy can't do it." He added, and hoped the other man would let Parker's 'Dr. Bones' comment would pass without comment.

"So, now that we're all here and acquainted…" Christopher said with a discomfited expression, "I don't suppose you're renting a means of transportation?"

Bones raised her eyebrow, "Oh, so now you want a ride?" she said with a smirk playing on her lips, "It just so happens that I have called ahead to obtain a vehicle, however, I don't have the power to decide if you can come with us, you'll have to ask Parker."

Christopher widened his eyes at Brennan's playful mood and turned to the boy, "So, if I promise not to call _Bones_ 'Doctor Dead' or any other demeaning name, can I ride with you?"

Parker lit up with excitement over being given the power to veto this man or not, studied the other man, before looking at his father for guidance. Booth, however, was no help and only offered up a shrug in return after all Bones had said it was up to his son. Parker turned to Christopher looking stern, "Okay, but you can't call her Bones either. That's my dad and I's nickname for her, and we only get to call her that because she is _our _best friend." He said with a little possessive tone.

Christopher bit back a grin and picked up one of the bigger bags from the group, "I didn't know that Tempe had such an important personal nickname. I won't use it again, I promise." He said before turning to Brennan and Booth noticed that they seemed to have a wordless conversation, and couldn't help but feel possessive about it, after all that was their thing, and just who was this Christopher anyway?

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After getting the rental car agreement all straightened out they put all their luggage into the back of the blue _Audi Q5 SUV_ Booth helped Parker into the back seat and waited until he was buckled in before closing the door. He started to make his way to the back of the vehicle, intent on sitting in the back next to Parker but Bones met him halfway and handed him the keys before taking the seat he intended to use as his own. Booth grinned holding the keys, and though it wasn't a 1966 Mustang Bones had still entrusted him with the right to drive. Booth whistled getting into the car and pulled the door closed, "Seatbelts" He said pulling his own on, "Where are we thinking of going to eat? Do you know any places around or should we just drive around until we find something that looks good to all of us?"

Brennan shrugged her shoulders, "There are plenty of places to eat I'm sure, we have 50 miles or so until we get to Bar Harbor we could drive a little ways or we can stop in Bangor." She glanced at Parker before meeting Booth's eyes in the mirror, "We could eat in Bangor and take Parker's picture next to the statue of Paul Bunyan."

"Who is Paul Bunyan?" Parker asked looking up from the handheld game he was playing.

Brennan barely managed to conceal her look of indignation causing Booth to stifle a bark of laughter amused by her reaction and the amusement that **she** knew who Paul Bunyan was to even be shocked that Parker did not. "Paul Bunyan is folklore about a giant lumberjack who had a blue ox named Babe. It's been a story passed along since the very early 1900s." she said replied.

"Cool, can we go dad?" He asked trying to look at his father even though the seat blocked his view.

"We could stop and eat at Captain Nicks." Christopher added his two cents in, turning to Booth he said, "The have excellent seafood, steak, ribs, and for Tempe…Salads." He said with a chuckle.

Booth nodded, "Alright, how about we eat lunch so Bones doesn't have to worry that I'm going to see a horse and shoot it for food. After that we can go find the statue on Paul Bunyan, and maybe find a book or two for Parker to read about Paul so Bones doesn't end up buying him some really old squinty book about it."

"Squinty?" Christopher asked.

"Nothing." The other three occupants of the car replied as the car pulled out of the rental parking lot and onto the road leading away from the Bangor Airport. Driving for about 20 minutes they pulled into the Parking Lot of Captain Nicks, after acquiring seats Brennan excused herself to use the restroom.

Christopher watched her walk away before turning to Booth, "So. I'm assuming that there is only one 'Doctor Bones' being talked about in the airport restroom earlier." He said and watched Booth scowl, "It's okay; I won't repeat any of what I accidently overheard. But just so you know, if you hurt Temperance, I'm not going to be Mr. Nice Guy."

Booth nodded his head, "Not that it's any of your business, but I have no intention of hurting her, she means the world to me." Parker made a sound of protest and he added, "To us. The Booth boys would do anything to keep that scientist happy."

Christopher nodded, "Just make sure that you do, I don't know how much she has told you, but she hasn't had the easiest life. She needs a little win here and there. Notice I said little, she's not really modest that one." He said with a chuckle, "I'm surprised she let you drive, she doesn't let anyone drive if she doesn't have too."

Bones choose that moment to sit down, "I let him drive because he is a good driver. I don't let you drive because I want to live to see another day, and sometimes I feel like that isn't going to happen when you're behind the wheel."

Christopher growled at her, but Booth cut in, "So I'm thinking about get the ribs, the picture looks good."

"Good enough to eat?" Brennan asked before pulling the menu away from him, "I should keep this over here so we won't have to explain why it has a bite mark in it." She said with a smirk.

Booth widened his eyes in false shock, "Bones, did you just make a joke?" he asked, reaching over and taking his menu back.

Brennan shrugged her shoulder looking over her own menu, "I told you, I can be quite amusing."

The waitress came, and they all placed their orders, a salad for Temperance, ribs for the men, and chicken tenders and fries for Parker. Parker pulled out the crayons from a cup that was in the center of the table and began to color the picture on his placemat.

"So, how do you two know each other?" Booth asked taking a sip of his soda; it was a question that had been bugging him all day, especially knowing that he was going to be meeting the person who saved his Bones all those years ago.

Brennan and Christopher looked at each other for a minute before Bones turned her blue eyes to Booth, "Chris's father and I go way back." She said meaningfully. "After that, we started spending time together." She turned to Christopher and added drily, "I paid his father back by not killing his offspring."

Christopher stuck his tongue out, "You say that like you don't love me with every fiber of your being." He said taking a long pull of his beer. "It's okay to not want to admit it to other people, we know the truth."

"I find that your statement is so false that I don't want to spend any time or energy telling you how wrong you are." She said as the waitress came with their food, she took the plate containing her salad, before putting Parker's down in front of him. Once the waitress left she added, "Of course, I guess my feelings for you aren't the repulsion they were in the past, I've grown fond of you over the years."

Booth watched the playful banter between the two, and though he found jealously rearing its head again, he was glad that Bones had someone there for her in the past after having such a terrible childhood. "At least she didn't shoot you." He said which drew a puzzled look from Christopher who turned to Bones only to find her beet red.

"I only grazed you." She let out a huff looking down at her plate and shifting through her salad so she didn't have to make eye contact with either of the men. "I was trying to shoot a lock off a door and it ricocheted." The men chuckled, "I was trying to help save a girl's life, and we got in didn't we?"

Booth nodded, "We did." He smiled at her, "and there isn't anyone I'd rather have at my side then you."

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The rest of the meal was accompanied with idle talk, when they were finished Christopher grabbed the billed and paid much to Booth and Brennan's joint annoyance. They all loaded back in the car, and the ride to the Bunyan statue held less tension now that they were all acquainted with each other a little better. Brennan shared more facts about Paul Bunyan and the history behind it, and when they got to the Bangor Civic Center at Bass Park they pulled into a parking spot and all got out stretching. It would be nice to get somewhere they could sit and relax even though it was still early in the afternoon. There was a difference between sitting in a car or plane, then sitting in the comfort of a home or hotel.

"This is supposed to be the tallest statue of Paul Bunyan in the world." Brennan said, "Minnesota also claims that Paul was born there."

Parker looked up at the statue in awe, "Can we get a picture?" he asked excitedly, "Bones, will you be in a picture with me? Please?"

Brennan smiled at the youngest Booth and was about to reply before Christopher beat her to it, "How about I take a picture of all three of you." He said.

Booth smiled his thanks and handed over his camera to the other man, "Come on, let's take a picture while there doesn't seem to be a crowd." Though it was sometimes fun to get strangers in pictures and then discuss them with friends (like clothes and haircut, things like that) Booth wanted to get a picture with just the three of them, and was grateful for Christopher for mentioning it. The three made their way over to the statue base and Booth stood with Bones on his right. He put his arm around her and they each put a hand on Parkers shoulders. As Christopher snapped the picture he couldn't help but muse that they looked like a real family, and knew that when they got together with the rest of the group, he would be holding a meeting to push those two together.

After getting a few more pictures with a musical chairs version of the group snapping photos of each other, they made their way through the park and the surrounding area. Once they found a nice shop that sold all types of books on Paul Bunyan, the area, and Maine, they purchased a few books before making their way back to the car.

This time when Christopher opened the door to get in Brennan slipped past him and took the front passenger seat. Christopher let out a sound of exasperation and Booth said from the driver's seat, "Bones' seat." Chris rolled his eyes and hopped in the back with Parker whose head was already leaning against the glass window as he was dangerously close to falling victim of a nap. Brennan smiled and snapped a quick picture before putting her seatbelt on. She programmed the GPS with the address they needed and the Audi made its way onto the highway once again.

The rest of the trip was quieter with adults being mindful of the youngest passenger sleeping in the back seat. Brennan and Christopher shared random facts about Maine, and areas that they had been to, and before long they were pulling up to a large house.

"Wow." Booth said with a whistle, "This is a nice place." Though he was expecting a hotel, he didn't picture Bones or Christopher for that matter, wanting to stay at a bed and breakfast, "One of those bed and breakfast places?"

"Hardly" Christopher said drily, as Booth came to a stop at the entrance of the building, "Welcome to the White Pine." He said, undoing his seatbelt and hopping out of the car.

The adults joined him, and Brennan helped a still sleepy Parker out of the car. As they pulled their luggage from the back, both Brennan and Christopher said, "Home of Mr. Mead."

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**So. After two 12 hour work days in a row this is my next installment. It's late so this is all she wrote.**

**A few things:  
1. I did a search and I know "Mayhem on a Cross" is when Bones talks about the trunk incident, but I couldn't find where it said how she got out of the trunk. I know that in one season she says that her grandfather got her out of the foster system, but in later seasons she was talking with Max and said she never knew her grandparents. So once again I'm taking a creative license and making Christopher's father the one who got her out of the trunk and helping her out.  
****_2. Also, the Audi came from Fifty Shades of Grey as I know nothing about cars._****  
3. I probably will only update this twice a week. My work schedule varies, and I work long hours. How long do you think each chapter should be? I hope I did better this time, its a little longer then the first chapter.  
4.****_ I'm not demanding reviews before I update. That's not how I roll, and quite frankly, I'm going to update whether you read this story or not because now I've got _****myself ****_interested in where I'm taking this. (lol) However, since this is my first attempt any feedback you give me would be lovely.  
a) Longer chapters, shorter?  
b) More descriptions less talking, more talking?_****  
c) More Christopher and the upcoming gang? Less?  
d)….hi  
Also these little notes won't always be here or be as long, but I wanted to get these things out there. Thanks!**


	3. Ocean View

**A/N: I'm back. I'm pretty sure I still don't own Bones. Nope, still don't.  
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_The adults joined him, and Brennan helped a still sleepy Parker out of the car. As they pulled their luggage from the back, both Brennan and Christopher said, "Home of Mr. Mead."_

Booth looked from his scientist to the male he was growing to like, "Mr. Mead?" he asked raising his eyebrow even as he picked up Bones' big bag and his smaller one. Parker picked up his backpack and put it one while grabbing his suitcase and the other two split the rest of the bags.

Brennan nodded, "Avery Mead, this is one of his summer homes." She said and followed Christopher up the steps. "It's my favorite place to meet, I love the area. But his place in Aspen isn't too bad." She said with a small smile.

"I love his place in Australia, I'm pretty sure that I'm going to break into his lawyers office and add it in his will that he leaves it to me." Christopher said with a faraway look on his face.

"So this Mead guy is like Hodgins loaded?" Booth asked and Brennan could hear the intimidation in his voice that he couldn't hide as he looked the outside of the house over.

Temperance shrugged her shoulder, "Avery never has to worry for anything." After Christopher opened the front door she gestured for the Booths to follow before entering herself and closing the door. The first room they entered was the entry room, it was spacious with a couch off to one side, walking through the doorway took them into a large room, that had two staircases on either side of farthest wall. Booth let out a low whistle, thinking that maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. It was one thing to be around Hodgins, while the squint was quite rich he didn't flaunt it. This place screamed wealth. On either side of the room there were doors leading off to other rooms, and the wall farthest from them held a passageway that would take them further into the house.

A short portly man came in through the passageway and smiled, "Good evening Master Relic, Mistress Brennan." He said before turning to Booth and Parker, "Good Evening, I'm…"

"Jeeves?" Booth asked in an attempt to bring humor, and maybe make himself a little less uncomfortable. It helped a little when the three other males in the room laughed. Brennan had the 'I don't know what that means' face on though and he gave her a slight smile. "Just kidding. I'm Booth, and this young man is my son, Parker."

'Jeeves' smiled, "I've very nice to meet you Master Booth, I am M-"

"Just Booth." Seeley said sheepishly feeling bad that he was interrupting again, but there was no way he was going to spend the week being addressed as Master Booth.

"Right." The man said more amused, "I am Mitchell Whise. My wife, Elsie, and I take care of this home when Master Mead is not visiting. I'll have someone come and take your bags to your rooms. Will Ma-uh-young Parker be staying upstairs with you, or downstairs with the rest of the children?"

Booth was uncomfortable saying that Parker would stay with the rest of the kids that he had yet to meet, or their parents, but he didn't want to offend anyone either. Brennan saved him from replying, "Mitchell, why don't we take them upstairs, and maybe later in the week he might like to join the little devils that we keep locked in the basement." She said with a bright smile.

Mitchell shook his head, "Now Miss Tempe, you know if you call Miss Chloe's children devils that I'm going to end up cleaning dinner off the ceiling again when she throws it at you."

"That's because she has such terrible aim!" Christopher said with a laugh, "Where is everyone anyway, this is the most quiet this house has been, unless we are the first to arrive."

"Miss Chloe and Master Walton won't arrive until tomorrow with the children. Morgan is here, and so is his son Wes. Master Avery is here, and he brought a date, lovely girl named Samantha." Mitchell said with a fond smile, "Master and Mistress Pine aren't due to arrive for two more days." He said, and motioned to the side of him, and another gentleman walked up. "Take our guests to their rooms, and have someone deliver their bags." Turning back to the group of travelers Mitchell smiled, "I better go help Elsie with dinner before I am dinner. Let me know if I can be of any help to you." And with that he was off.

Booth handed his bag off to the younger man who also took Temperance's bag, and followed her as she made her way up the right staircase. Christopher waved, before making his way up the left stairwell with one of the men carrying his bags. Parker looked around with interest, "This is a big place, will we get lost for days?" he asked with wide eyes.

Brennan shook her head, "No, there will be so many people wandering that house, that you'll likely only be lost for a few minutes. But I know my way around the house, and if you stick with me I promise that you won't get lost."

"What about me?" Booth asked grinning up at her.

Brennan gave him a quick look as they came to the second landing before turning her attention to following the help to their rooms. "I might accidently leave you to fend for yourself for a few minutes." She said with a wink as they came to a stop. She pointed to one of the doors, "This is my room." And pointed to the room across the hall, "That's where you and Parker will stay, unless you think Parker would want his own room. I wasn't sure, so I had one set up." She pointed to the door next to Booth's room for the next week.

Booth looked down at Parker in question, "I'd like my own room." Parker said excitedly, "I promise I won't jump on the bed or anything!" Booth looked back to Brennan and shrugged.

Brennan nodded, and took the few steps down the hall to the other room and pushed the door open, "This will be your room then Parker." She said and took a step back as the boy ran past her and into his room. She watched in delight as he looked over the room and dropped his bag onto the bed, "This is so cool." He said turning back to her. Brennan smiled and moved to open her own door thanking the man when he set her bags in her room before doing the same for Booth and taking his exit.

"I feel it's been a long day, so if you'd like to rest a little bit before meeting some of the others…or I could show you around." Brennan said, unsure of what to do next. It was the first time she had ever brought anyone along with her on one of these trips. The others had brought friends and lovers before, but she and Avery never did. And some part of her, a part that she would compartmentalized until she had a moment to herself, thought it was rather amusing that they had each brought someone for the first time. Brennan looked to Booth as he came out of his room and moved to lean on her doorframe.

"I'm okay with taking a little bit to relax, I know that Parker could do with a little bit more sleep or he'll be ripping everyone's head off at the end of the evening." He said a little lower so the person in question wouldn't know that he was being volunteered for more sleep. That, and Booth could use a little time to process all that he had learned so far.

Brennan nodded, "I find that I could use with a little nap myself." She said shuffling a yawn. "So rest for an hour or so before the grand tour?"

"That sounds great." Booth gave her a Booth grin before turning to Parker, "Hear that Parks, we're all going to take naps for the next hour or so. That means you can go into your totally awesome room and either take a nap or play quietly while Bones and I take naps."

Parker looked from one adult to the other before shrugging, "Okay." He said, and went into his appointed room and closing the door softly behind him.

The two adults looked at the closed door for a second before meeting each other's eyes and laughing. "I guess that settles that." Booth said grinning and taking a step back towards his room. "Hey Bones."

Temperance was in the process of entering her own room when Booth's call stopped her; she turned with a curious look, "Yeah Booth?"

Booth looked down at his hands before meeting her gaze, "I just. I wanted to say I'm sorry for the way things have been lately." He paused, "To thank you for bringing Parker and I along, and letting us into this part of your life. I've already had a wonderful day, and if I get to spend the rest of the week with you and Parker, then my vacation is everything that I could ever want." he chuckled, "And I only wanted to shoot Christopher once…or twice." Brennan smiled at that. Booth looked at her for a long moment before looking away, when he looked back his eyes held a seriousness to them, "I'm going to make sure you know that I'm not going anyway." He said quietly. "You're my best friend, and my partner, and it's time that I remembered that and started treating you right. I'm sorry I haven't been around that much since we got back. I'm sorry I let Hannah and our relationship distract me from what was really important."

"Booth your relationship with Hannah was important." Brennan said quietly.

Booth shook his head, "I know, at the time I thought she would be the one to help me get over you. But I realized she helped me come to the conclusion that there just is no getting over you Temperance Brennan. You get under a man's skin and you just stay there." He said with mock annoyance that even she picked up on. When she opened her mouth to reply he shook his head again, "You don't have to say anything or shoot me down. The way I see it I have those 30 or 40 years to make you see my reasoning." He took another step back into his own room, "I'll see you in an hour or so." He said and closed the door between them.

Brennan stood in the doorway of her own room trying to decide what to do, and after a few seconds she entered her own room closing the door behind her.

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Brennan unpacked her bags letting her mind wonder, Booth's speech had shocked her. When he came back with the reporter she had been devastated that she missed her chance. While in Maluku she had come to the conclusion that she did love Booth. She thought the year away would be a good thing, make her unknown feelings go away, but with each passing day she found that she missed Booth more and more. When she got the call to come back early to help Cam with that case, she had never been more relieved and more ready to come home. Working in Maluku had been exciting as it always is when she got to do what she always wanted, but she found herself missing working cases with Booth. Discovering the past was nice, and she would never completely give it up, but she loved that she could help a family find closure, and put murderers behind bars. But on top of all that she got to work with Booth too, and that made all the heartache she felt with each discovery of a new murder worth it.

After putting her clothes away and her toiletry bag into the adjoining bathroom, she lay down on her bed with a sigh, Booth was right, it was nice to relax after the nice being of the day they had, and with that thought she drifted off to sleep.

She awoke to soft whispering outside her door, and though the voices were low, she knew that the Booth boys were both up. Glancing over at the clock on the bedside table she was shocked to learn she'd slept for two hours, she got up and walked over to the door quietly.

"But Dad." Parker said in reply to something his father said, she could almost picture him with the Booth trademark pout.

"We should just let Bones sleep, what about if we go into your room and play a game or something?" Booth replied, and Brennan opened to door to see the boys' faces turn to look of shock. Then the youngest one's turned to excitement, and the oldest took on a more embarrassed look, "Uh, hey Bones."

Tempe smiled, "Good Evening boys, I was just coming out to get you." She said and stepped into the hallway, "Were you having an important meeting outside my door for any particular reason?"

Booth shook his head, glad to see she wasn't hesitant by their parting words, "Nope, we were just coming to get you."

"No we weren't" Parker added with a glare directed towards his father, "Dad said that we should let you sleep because you usually stay up until all hours looking at your bones, and that you should get the sleep while you could. He told me that we should go play a game." He said turning to Brennan with the same accusing look, "Don't you know that you need to get a good night's rest Dr. Bones? If you don't get enough sleep you can get sick."

Brennan smiled, "You are very correct Parker, and I'm glad that you let me sleep a little this afternoon. I promise to get a good night's rest tonight; I won't look at any bones tonight." She turned towards the stairs and began her way down them, Booth boys trailing behind.

They made their way into the room they last saw Christopher in and Brennan paused when one of the doors off to the side opened, a tall built man with sandy brown hair stepped out, pausing when he noticed the audience in the room. He eyed to the males before setting his cold gaze unto Brennan. Booth noticed a slight change in his expression when his eyes landed on Bones, but he couldn't place what the change was. "Tempe." He said with a nod of acknowledgement before turning on the ball of his foot and returning to the room that he had started in, the door closing with a resounding click.

Brennan rolled her eyes turning to Booth with a shrug of apology, "That's Avery, he doesn't do well with strangers." She said with a shrug, "He'll warm up to you as the week goes on. By the end of the week, he'll probably say your name too." She said with wry amusement, hinting that that was a normal interaction with the man.

"He's the one who owns this place?" Booth asked, looking towards the closed door unsure of how good of an idea this was.

Temperance nodded, and motioned for them to follow as they made their way down the hallway leading into the back of the house. "He's just like me, raised in foster care, he's very untrusting." She said pulling open a door in front of her, and they stepped into a kitchen. Another woman was busy bustling around the room. When she heard the intruders she turned with an accusing look, holding a spatula up as if in warning, "I was wondering when you were going to come say hello Miss Tempe." She said with accusation dripping in her voice, but Booth heard the undertones of affection in her voice.

Booth looked on in amusement as Bones looked shamefaced before pointing to him, "He needed a nap! I told you that I was bringing someone that would eat you out of house and home and then take a nap!" She said, turning to give him a look and he knew that she was just joking, "Elsie, this is my partner and best friend Seeley Booth, and his son Parker." She said, "Boys this is Elsie, she is one of my favorite cooks."

Elsie rolled her eyes wiping her hands on her apron, "She can't say that I'm the best in the world because she hasn't tried everyone's cooking." She said in amusement reaching out and shaking Parker's hand first, "Hi there, you look like you could use a chocolate chip cookie." She said reaching over and picking up a plate of homemade cookies. Parker eyed the cookies before turning a pleading look onto his father, with a nod from Booth Parker grabbed a cookie, "Thanks! Chocolate chip are my favorite cookies."

Elsie nodded offing cookies to the adults, "I heard, a little birdie told me." She said with a smile, and held her hand out to Booth, "That same bird also told me that an apple pie would be a nice treat to have after dinner."

Booth shook the woman's hand as a blush crept up his neck, "I hope you didn't go through any trouble, but I do like my pie." His statement was accompanied by a Booth trademark grin.

Brennan scrunched up her nose and made a comment about cooked fruit before stepping forward and placing her arms around the other woman, "It's good to see you Elsie, and I'm sorry I wasn't down sooner. You are looking well."

Booth watched the older woman's eyes widen and knew that this wasn't normal behavior for Temperance, and felt his heart fill with pride over all the progress she had made in the past years opening up and becoming more aware of the feelings of others. "Why Tempe." Elsie paused as her eyes misted over, "It's so very good to see you. I made a fruit salad for you, no cooked fruit for my favorite anthropologist."

Mitchell chose that moment to enter the room and stopped short, mouth dropping open at the scene of the two women hugging. Pulling apart Elsie turned to Mitchell with a happy gleam in her eyes, and he knew that everything was okay. "Hey there guys, Christopher just got up a bit ago, I believe he is out back trying to talk Wes into pulling some prank that will no doubt end with us all getting treated to a Avery Mead lecture." He said with a shutter and a wink.

Brennan nodded, "Then I'd better go stop him, the last thing I want is to listen to Avery drone on and on about…what was it three years ago? The importance of not bothering your elders as they are talking on the phone with important businessmen. If I remember correctly it ended in a grand finale of Avery and Christopher ending up in the pool because one of them called the other a hot head." She turned to Booth, "This is why you might not care about having to do the paperwork." She said with an eye roll and waved to the older couple before leaving the room and making her way further down the hallway they stepped through an archway and they found themselves in room full of water equipment. "There is everything you could imagine for going in the pool, or down the beach." Brennan said walking briskly through the room and pulling open the door leading to the back yard. "Christopher Wes Relic you'd better not be doing anything that gets any of us in trouble or so help me you'll find yourself on a one way ticket to the moon. I know people!"

Christopher and Wes jumped apart and the boy about Parker's age covered head to toe in dirt sprang forward wrapping his arms around Brennan. "Tempe! You're here!" he said with a grin, "Are you going to tell me about your trip to Maluku? Dad told me about how you got trapped in the cave but he said that you didn't tell him anything more than that you were fine." Booth's eyes settled on his partner, this was something he did not know about. What happened that Brennan had found herself trapped in a cave? Had she been hurt? Was she alone?

"I will tell you all about it later." She said pulling away from the boy, "Right now I'd like to know what Christopher is planning and what he has suckered you in to? Is he bribing you, because I'm pretty sure I can give you more of whatever he is trying to bribe you with?"

Wes shrugged his shoulders, "Chris told me not to talk to anyone about it, but I'm not going to do it. Avery was so mad last year." Wes noticed Booth and Parker and made his way over to Parker, "I'm Wes. Are you staying this week?"

Parker nodded his head, "I am, I'm Parker, and I belong to those two." He said gesturing to Bones and Booth, Booth knew that it was Parker's way of telling the other kid that he considered Bones to be his, but Booth couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to have a child with Bones.

Wes seemed to not pick up on the undertone and grinned, "It's nice to meet you Parker, we're going to have tacos for dinner, and do you like tacos?" Parker nodded in the affirmative and Wes carried on, "Do you want to play with me until then? My cousins won't be here for a couple of days otherwise we could all do something, but you and I could go down to the playroom. It's not as babyish as it sounds, uncle Avery keeps all kinds of toys and games down there so that we aren't helping Christopher pull pranks on him."

Parker turned to Booth for the second time in less than ten minutes and Booth turned to Brennan this time with a nod from Bones he replied, "Sure, that's fine, but you behave because I hear if you don't we all have to suffer through some lecture, and if that happens, I'm locking you both up in jail." He joked, but he really didn't want to end up in a lecture. The boys gave a whoop of excitement before they took off, Parker following Wes' lead.

"I guess they hit it off." Christopher said sitting in a poolside chair, "I must say, Tempe, it's quite adorable how that child wants everyone to know that if they mess with you they have to answer to him. I'm betting Wes didn't know that Parker was staking his claim on you."

Bones dropped into a chair next to him and made herself comfortable, "Parker is a good kid." She said, pride evident in her voice, "I don't mind if he wants everyone to know that he's with me." She narrowed her eyes leaning towards Christopher, "Don't even think about messing with him either. If you get him involved in one of your Avery schemes I will make sure that you never see the light of day again. I can do it. I work with the FBI."

Booth let out a bark of laughter sitting down on the end of her lounge chair, "I'm not sure that's how the FBI works Bones."

Brennan narrowed her eyes at him as if to say shut up, before turning back to Christopher, "I have connections." She said matter-of-factly. Christopher chuckled settling in his chair and closing his eyes, "Okay, I won't enlist your boy in any of my gun play." He said before shooting upright, "Bomb." He released a sigh, "I've been holding that in all day. I wanted to say it all morning, but didn't want to be put on some kind of list, or strip searched."

Temperance rolled her eyes, "Only you would want to do something as stupid as that. You know if he wanted to Booth could call to have you detained." She grinned at the agent in question, "Isn't that right."

Booth shrugged, "Worked on you." He said with an answering grin of his own. "This is a nice place."

"One of those places where you could sit and think about never going home?" she asked with a small smile.

Booth nodded, "Only if the company stayed with me."

Christopher rolled his eyes standing up, "Well that's my cue to go and…do something else." He said with a chuckle, "I'll go see if the kids are behaving themselves, see if I can con some chocolate cookies out of Elsie. I'll see you two at dinner, if not before." He said with a nod to both before entering the house and leaving the two partners alone.

Booth moved to Christopher's abandoned chair and the partners let the silence settle around them. There was a slight breeze and the water in the pool rippled. "We could go swimming later." Bones said, "Here or the beach, if you didn't bring suits we could run to the store. I know that Wes loves to swim, and if he could talk Parker into it, they'd spend the whole week in the pool."

"I packed swimming trunks for us." He said having doubled checked Parker's bag when they had gotten home last night, making a quick run to the store for anything he thought Parker would need with Rebecca being out of the state. Telling Rebecca that he was taking Parker to Maine with Bones had gone easier then he thought it would as well; Rebecca had been excited that Parker would be going somewhere that would be both educational and fun. Booth had wondered at the time, if she finally thought Booth was capable of having more time with his son, but he also wondered if his smart partner being here was part of the reason she accepted the change of plans so quickly. Not that he was resentful; he was with his two favorite people at a house with a private beach, with some people that he thought were great.

"We don't really have too many plans together we all spend the night here and have dinner together, but unless it's an activity for the kids we usually split up during the day. You could take Parker around during the day to all the tourist attractions." Bones said, picking something off her shirt and turning her attention to the pool in front of them.

Booth had been around Temperance Brennan enough to know when she was giving him an out, an out he didn't want, "This is your show Bones." He held up his hand when she started to interrupt, "Figure of speech, what I mean is, is that you are part of our group. We go where you go." He paused, "Unless you want to spend time with everyone here, in which case I'll take Parker around the area. But otherwise, I'm hoping you'll be our tour guide and all three of us can have a fun week together."

Brennan turned to him with a brilliant smile, and he knew he had said the right thing, "We don't have anything to do that would exclude you or Parker. It wouldn't be very nice of me to invite you somewhere and then kick you out of the activities." She reached out and touched his arm lightly, "I wasn't hurt badly in cave." She said quietly, and he was surprised she was being forthcoming with this information. "Define not badly" he interjected crossing his arms and turning in the chair to look at her.

"It was been a terrible few weeks full of nothing but rain and more rain." She said with a scowl on her face, "A few of us were headed to a nearby village to get a few supplies that we could without risking going into one of the bigger villages where we could run into Guerillas along the way. On our way back to the camp a terrible storm hit and we took shelter in a cave, the winds picked up and the next thing we knew we were in our own storm inside the cave as the walls started to crumble and debris started to rain down around us." She said and slight tremor went through her, "We were only trapped for a few hours, it was relatively easy to move the earth that had blocked our passageway. I had cuts and scrapes both from when everything started to fall, and from digging our way out."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Bones shrugged her shoulders, "It didn't seem like something you would have liked to hear, you're an alpha male and I know that even though it is irrational you would have felt guilty for not being there."

Booth hung his head, "I still would have liked to know, and I would have been able to pry it out of you if I hadn't been so caught up in myself. I'm so sorry Bones."

Brennan shook her head, "You keep saying you're sorry but I don't understand why. You pulled away from us, but that is only natural when you enter in a committed relationship. Its human nature and I don't think anyone at the lab holds it against you for not being around anymore."

"That's just it, I don't care what everyone at the lab thinks, and you're my best friend Bones and I feel like I've let you down." He said quietly.

"Everyone let's everyone else down sometime, it's only a matter of time." A voice interrupted and Booth turned to see Avery standing in the doorway, "Tempe and I learned at an early age to never put trust in anyone but yourself."

Booth was about to object when Brennan shook her head, "I trust Booth." She said quietly but full of confidence, "I know that when in doubt Booth will always have my back."

"He put your father in jail." Avery said with a shake of his head, stepping closer to the couple, "Doesn't that anger you at all?"

"My father belonged in jail; it would have been wrong for him not to end up there. Though in the end, I came to realize that I loved my father and did not want him there, he was still a criminal, and it's Booth's job to lock criminals up." She shrugged, "It doesn't anger me that Booth did something that backed up what he believed in. And even then, when we weren't supposed to talk to each other during the case, he still made sure that I was okay, and he was there to answer questions that I'm not good at answering myself."

Avery looked at them a long moment before nodding, "I see your point, and will bestow you the win." He walked over and held out his hand to Booth, "It's nice to meet someone our dear Tempe holds in such high esteem." Booth shook the pre-offered hand, "I didn't mean to defame your character, well not to badly, it's hard to imagine that the one person I always knew would think just like me…changed." He said without malice. "If you grew up the similar ways we did, you would know that our trust issues are valid." Avery turned to look at the view of the ocean for a minute and when he looked back the haunted look in his eyes was gone, "Dinner will be served in an hour, and Christopher's head will be served in the morning if he does anything stupid tonight." Avery said with an exaggerated eye roll and Booth knew that there was affection between the two males and Brennan. Bones was right; this was a family that though they didn't appear to spend too much time together were very well bonded.

Dinner came and went and was filled with plenty of conversation, the odd little family kept their personal lives out of it, while they did share joint stories, nothing was ever to personal. Booth knew that if the roles had been reversed he wouldn't want to share anything with complete strangers either. Samantha, Avery's date, was as nice as Mitchell said a very odd match to Booth. Samantha was fun and upbeat while Avery was broody and almost cold. After dinner, and one truly amazing pie, the group went swimming.

They made an early night since everyone but the Whises had traveled from various parts of the states, and everyone was travel wary. Booth, Parker and Brennan made their way up the steps and stopping in the hallway between each of the rooms they said their goodnights before going to bed.

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**I feel like this chapter dragged a little, wrote it during my break at work. Once I get the players introduced I think the game will go smoother. I've got lots planed for our trio, I love Maine so much and I'm glad I sent them there. **

**I'm excited that I'm posting at midnight; last two posts have been around 2am *random fact***

**Thanks for all the reviewing and following. 3**


	4. Between a Museum and a Hard Place

**I'm updating a lot better than I thought I would. Still don't own them, if I did Booth would be my snuggle body. Thanks for all your lovely reviews. **

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Booth woke to the feeling that someone was watching him; it took him a minute to become aware of his surroundings and process where he was. He and Parker joined Bones on a vacation to Maine. He'd met part of her 'family' yesterday. Booth was almost sure that he was going to look at the foot of his bed and find Christopher standing there; probably with a shaving cream pie or something from what he heard over dinner the night before the guy was a prankster.

Seeley turned over onto his back and opened his eyes, sitting up immediately when he found four children, one of them his own, staring at him intently. "Uh, hello."

"Good morning dad!" Parker said, and Wes threw in a hello, "These are my new friends Melanie and Dylan" he said pointing to the two dark skinned children, "Is it alright if we go down to the playroom while the adults decide what our plans are for the day?"

"Uh, I guess, what about breakfast?" He asked as his stomach growled and he shook off the last of his dreariness.

Parker grinned, "Already ate, Miss Elsie feed us kids extra early." He said as the kids inched their way to the door, "So…see ya" and then he was alone again. Booth rubbed a hand over his face and shook his head. Tossing the covers of the bed back he stood up and stretched.

Booth hurried through the morning motions, a quick shower and shave before dressing casually unsure of what the day's plans would be. Pulling open his door he was rewarded with the sight of his partner sitting at a desk in her room typing away at the computer. He closed his door behind him and moved to her doorway knocking on the frame, "Morning Bones."

Brennan typed a bit more, presumably finishing up a few sentences before looking up, "Morning Booth." She clicked something on her screen before shutting the lid and standing, "Did you sleep okay?"

"I sleep well, you?" he asked watching her pull her shoes on before moving to join him in the hallway.

"I had a good night's rest." She confirmed pulling her door closed, "I was just working on a few chapters of my next novel. Are you hungry? I'm sure that Elsie is passing the breakfast room wondering where everyone is."

Booth cringed, "Sorry, you could have woken me up, I hate the thought of making anyone wait on me, or for me."

"No. We aren't the only ones down there. Avery won't go to breakfast until he is sure everyone is there, he's very…formal…like that. Christopher, however, is probably still dreaming about whatever he dreams about." She said with a shake of her head, "With no set dining times, our breakfast and lunch meals are more relaxed. What do you want to do today?" she asked changing the subject, she knew the topic of wealth made Booth uncomfortable, and she wanted him to have a good time.

Booth shrugged, "I don't really know what to do in the area, I'd like to take Parker around, but it appears he had made some new friends and no longer wants to hang out with his old man." He said, "Melanie, Dylan, Wes and Parker took off to play. At least a got a quick good morning from him though."

Brennan smiled, "I'm glad they are getting along, you don't have to worry the children are all well behaved. It's the adults you have to worry about." She said with a laugh, "As you've seen Christopher had no sense, he'll play every trick he knows to amuse himself. You haven't met Chloe yet, but she's always been Christopher's right hand man." She smiled fondly.

"There you are." Elsie said as they entered the breakfast room, and Booth was mildly amused that it wasn't the same room they had dinner in. He wondered if they stuck around for lunch if they would have that meal on the roof, and missed his tiny apartment. But something sure smelled good, and with Bones at his side he would face anything. "I've been wondering why you were going to come down. Don't tell me you kept my favorite FBI agent waiting so you could feel pages and pages full of that scientific murder novel" Elsie scowled, but there was amusement in her eyes.

"Actually I kept her waiting while I slept." Booth said, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, "I had a really good night's sleep, didn't want to get up, but then my stomach kept yelling at me, so here I am."

"You're stomach can't talk Booth." Tempe turned to him with a concern on her face, "You aren't seeing anything that you shouldn't are you?"

Confused Booth took a minute to ponder what she meant and when he did his stomach dropped. "No." he said, placing a hand on her shoulder, "I wasn't being serious, I'm not seeing anything that I shouldn't see, no cartoon babies, no fallen war buddies, no pink elephants in the corner of the room." He said with a smile that he hoped would reassure her, and after a second she gave him a small smile in return.

Elsie watched the exchange and tilted her head, "You haven't been puffing anything you shouldn't have been have you?"

"Of course he hasn't Elise." Brennan said, offended on his behalf. Booth shook his head, "I had a tumor on my brain caused some hallucinations…But, Bones made me go see a doctor, and I'm right as rain now. No drugs here, even if I wanted to –which I don't- I work for the FBI were have random drug screenings."

Elsie nodded, placated, "I see, right, well with talk of pink elephants what do you think an old woman like me would think about? I've got all these kids around to make sure they stay on the straight and narrow, and now these kids are bringing more kids around." she motioned to the table of food, "Please help yourself to anything, I've got more of everything in the kitchen, enough to feed that elephant of yours."

"I'm confused why we keep talking about elephants." Bones said, but moved towards the buffet table of food; grabbing a plate she filled it with whatever goodies caught her eye. When she was satisfied she moved over to the dining table and took a seat, "Booth, I would fill your plate now. Avery doesn't look like much, but he probably could eat that horse you wanted to shoot yesterday."

Even as he made his way to the buffet Booth caught the look on Elsie's face and knew he had to explain the exchange, "I didn't actually say I wanted to shoot a horse, I said I could eat a horse. You're the one who thought I was serious, I'm surprised you didn't call the animal rights people before flinging red paint on me." He said picking up a plate and filling it as Brennan had; only his choices were less animal rights friendly. When he filled his plate he made his way over to the table taking the place next to his partner, "This looks really great Elsie, I don't suppose you'll move to DC and come cook for me fulltime?"

Elsie smiled watching the exchange between the two, the easy banter that they had been doing since they arrived. She hoped that they would get it together, Booth seemed like a very nice man, and her Tempe deserved that, and Tempe was a prize herself. Though it looked like Booth knew that the way he looked at her, and he didn't mind if she knew it too. Elsie wondered if Brennan had picked up on that, or if she was still unable to read people's emotions. "As much as I would like to do that, my Mitch might miss me if I up and left him." She replied, backing from the room, "Enjoy your breakfast dears." And then she was gone.

The partners talked quietly with one another, Booth going back to the table for a second helping before Bones was even halfway done with her first serving. As he turned back to the dining table Christopher walked in with a dark skinned woman. "Morning." Booth said taking his seat.

"Good morning Christopher, Chloe." Brennan said looking up from her plate, "It is good to see you Chloe, how is the windy city treating you?"

The dark skin woman walked around the table, hugging Brennan before moving with Christopher to the buffet table, "It's been treating me very nicely. I'm glad I actually got this week off, the hospital has been slow, thankfully." She said with a shrug, "I never know if I should be glad that people aren't getting hurt, or upset that I have no one to doctor." She said with a chuckle moving to sit across from Booth. "Hi. I'm Chloe, I'm a black African American." She said with laughter in her voice and Booth knew there was a story behind it.

"Shut up Chloe, it's been almost 15 years, you would think that you would stop bringing that one up." His Bones said in reply, which caused everyone to laugh.

"We went to the same school and some kids were calling me…well you know kids." Chloe said, "They said that I should go back to Africa where my colored belonged and not where white people were, and up marched this skinny little bookworm 'Not all people in Africa are black you imbeciles and if you think this is where the Caucasian people are from then you clearly haven't been playing attention in history class. Remember in elementary school when you either got to be a pilgrim or an Indian?'" By now Brennan was beet red, and Chloe was standing waving her arms around, "' Well, that wasn't just from some stupid fun activity. You were dressing like people of the past where the Indians and pilgrims had dinner together, right before _your skin_ started killing them off. So if you want to get your facts right, it's Johnny Whitehorse who really belongs here and the rest of us should be shipped off' it was so funny and poor Johnny…the only Native American at our school…" Chloe collapsed into a fit of giggles, "I knew right then that Temperance Brennan was going to be one of my best friends."

Tempe grinned at Chloe, "And I knew right then that our school were full of idiots, and if I remember correctly, when you tried to engage me in conversation I ignored you."

Chloe nodded, "That's true, and that first month was grueling." She said turning to Booth, "She always had her nose in a book, or was playing with some dead thing, but it never bothered me. It was when my passion and her passion collided that we hit it off."

At Booth's confused look Christopher spoke up since both girls had food in their mouths, "Chloe is the doctor of the living, Tempe the doctor of the dead as you know." He said, "Now this is all hearsay since only the girls were there, but according to them Chloe found an injured squirrel…"

"Bunny." The girls protested together.

"Bunny." Christopher said, and Booth had a feeling he knew where this was going, "Anyway this bunny had been hit by a car, or became prey to a pet dog or something. Chloe tried to nurse it back to health…unfortunately it didn't survive. So since most people at school knew that Tempe was into dead things, Chloe took the bunny to her…as a present." Christopher let out a snort. "Only these two would think a dead bunny makes a good present."

"But I won her over didn't I?" Chloe said with a look of pure pride in herself. "Of course then Bren got sent to another foster home in another county and we only saw each other for a few hours every couple of weeks. But I had a friend, and a sister for life." Chloe said and the girls shared a smile.

"A sister who isn't really related by blood or marriage." Brennan agreed, "And for the record, that bunny was attacked by an animal. I'm sure if were to go dig up the remains I would be able to tell what type of animal, but at the time, I could only distinguish that it was bite marks on the skeleton."

That's my Bones, always wanting to dig something up and find out all about it." Booth said, pushing his empty plate away. "I'm Booth by the way." He said to Chloe having never got the chance to respond to her greeting.

Chloe nodded, "I know who you are Special Agent in Charge Seeley Booth." She said with a twinkle in her eye. "You're the stupid alpha male who caused all kinds of trouble for our Tempe, and then saved her, and then she saved you. And then you saved each other a few times. Then you died, only you didn't die it was just an experiment, and then you were Booth. Then you guys went to separate parts of the universe, and then a lawyer called and yelled at everyone to stop messing around and get back to work, and then you guys ended up here." Chloe summarized, "How'd I do?"

"Pretty well, except I didn't 'die' as an experiment, I was doing an undercover thing for the FBI." He corrected.

"No, I know that, I was talking about the list experiment thi…" Chloe looked at his partner and shrugged, "Thing, how about those eggs, did you get some eggs? I love eggs!" she put an awful big spoon full in her mouth and could barely close her lips around it. "MMMM…"

Booth turned to Brennan only to find her studying a piece of watermelon on her plate. "What list? What's going on?" he asked looking at his partner intently.

Brennan sighed, "Did you try the eggs though? She's right, they are pretty tasty." She said turning to him with a nervous grin but didn't meet his eyes.

"Bones."

"I'm sure that they taste better then that horse you keep talking about. We could go to the zoo, I'm sure they have horses and an elephant, but not a pink elephant. You do know that elephants aren't pink right?" she said hoping to get a rise out of him for not knowing the color of an elephant.

Booth rolled his eyes, "I'm sure Parker would love to go to a zoo, but we can do that anywhere, so if there is something else you would like to do we can do that right after you tell your partner all about what you seem to not want him to know."

"Uh…actually I thought we could go to a museum, oh! We could go to Mount Desert Oceanarium & Lobster Hatchery." She said cheerfully.

"Bones."

"It would be really fun to talk Parker, it's really educational too. They take you on a tour of the marsh and talk about proper care, and you get to see marine life up close. Its actu-"

"Bones!"

"And the hatchery you can see the mother lobsters and the process they go through and we might even see baby lobsters." She turned to Christopher who was watching in amusement. "Do you think it's the proper time for bab-"

"BONES!" Booth said taking hold of her arm, "The experiment."

"Did you try the eggs?" she said pointing to the buffet table.

Booth rolled his shoulders and leaned back in his chair crossing his arms, "Okay, you don't want to tell me that's fine. I take a bullet for you and this is the thanks I get." He said, looking down at the table.

Brennan glanced at the other two occupants before reaching over and touching Booth's arm, "I really am grateful that you stupidly moved in front of that bullet and saved my life Booth. I thought you knew that."

Booth felt remorseful using guilt on her and looked over at her, "I know that Bones, I also know that you are the only person who insults someone while telling them you're grateful all in the same sentence." He said, "Will you tell me about the experiment thing that I seemed to miss. Do I need to call Angela and get it from her?"

Brennan removed her hand placing both her hands in her lap, "She doesn't know and I said I wouldn't tell you." She winced, "I mean, I said that if it didn't happen again, that you didn't need to know."

"That shrink!" Chloe exclaimed and when the partner's turned their stares on her she shrugged standing, "What I didn't say I wouldn't tell anyone. It's not my fault you didn't think that I would meet Booth and blabber about something like this." And with that she left the room. Christopher looked from one to the other before pointing towards the door, "I'm just. Yeah. I'll…Chloe!" he called sprinting out the door.

"Sweets?" Booth asked after a few moments of silence.

"He's our baby duck." She said as if to remind him, she sighed, "Sweets is the reason I didn't know that you were under assignment."

"Right, because he must not have got to the list or forgot to call you…" Brennan saw when the puzzle piece hit its mark, "Oh I'm going to murder that little son of a b-"

"Our little duck." She said more forceful this time.

"Well I'm pretty sure duck season just came into effect." Booth said with a snarl. "He had no right to do this."

"It's not like it's something recently took place Booth, I'm sure if we have been more willing to participate in his sessions he wouldn't have taken that route." Brennan said wringing her hands together.

"Don't" Booth said, his voice pained, "Don't stick up for Sweets or make this out to be our fault. He had no right to do this to us, to you. For what? To see how you would react to my death? I'm so sorry Bones, if I had any indication that he…I don't even know, but Sweets is a dead man walking."

"Booth we just had this conversation a few days ago, corpses cannot…"

"It's an expression, it means he's been marked for death, and I'm going to be the one to make sure he get's that first step into his coffin, and then I'm going to trip him." Booth scowled.

"This is an interesting conversation to happen upon." Avery said walking into the room and sitting down at the table, pouring himself a cup of coffee, "Do tell me who we are killing, is it Christopher? Because I own enough property that we could easily hide the body."

"Uh, now's not really the best time." Tempe said, "And it's not Christopher that I plan to kill, it's Chloe and her big mouth."

Booth shook his head, "No it's Sweets and his stupid kindergarten games."

"Ah." Avery said, "That's the psychologist right? Is this about the thing?"

Brennan narrowed her eyes, "This is about the thing that shouldn't even be talked about. What is with all of you and your big mouths this morning?" she asked with a huff.

Booth, despite the situation, smiled, "I feel like the universe is giving you payback for all the times you spoke out of turn." He said before growing serious. "This isn't over, Sweets needs to know that this isn't okay. But for the sake of our week I'm going to let it drop."

"Sweets knows that it's not okay. He thinks that you are going to shoot him if you find out." She said glancing at him, "You won't shoot him will you?"

"Maybe with my sniper rifle." He muttered before shaking his head, "I won't kill our baby duck, but I also want to make sure he knows that I know."

Avery stood walking to the buffet table and picking up a bagel, "You know you could always bring him up to the Wellington House and accidently trip him off the Rockyville Cliff." And with that Avery swept out of the room leaving the partners alone again.

"I like him." Booth said. "So this Wellington place, it's close to home?"

Brennan rolled her eyes standing, "We need to decide what we are going to do today, on our vacation where we aren't going to talk about harming our baby duck. Nor are you going to call and threaten him." She narrowed her eyes at him, "When we get home we can all sit down like adults and talk about this, but I think the statute of limitations is well past."

Booth nodded standing, "Okay, no more talk of Sweets." He said putting his hand at the small of her back as they walked out of the room. "I think the lobster thing sounds fun, if we can pull Parker away from the kids. Or we could take the whole gang with us, depending on whether Chloe is going to come out of hiding. If I can't kill Sweets you can't kill her."

Brennan rolled her eyes, "I'm not really going to kill her I'm going to talk Wes into putting worms in her bed."

Booth stopped short, "You will do no such thing, that's such…, such a Hodgins thing to do!"

Brennan let out an almost evil laugh, "I know. It's perfect!

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After promising that no one was going to hurt or torment anyone they found Christopher and Chloe and they all decided that taking all the kids to the Mount Desert Oceanarium & Lobster Hatchery sounded like a fun way to spend the morning. Pulling the kids away from the playroom they got ready for the day before meeting outside. Booth looked from the one Audi to the next and turned to Brennan who shrugged, "Avery made sure we were all driving safe cars, Audis are safe." She said, and Booth just nodded as they got into the car, Parker and Wes in the backseat. Melanie and Dylan in the other Audi with Chloe and Christopher, Avery opting to stay behind and work on business.

"You let him pick a car for you? That doesn't sound like something you would willingly do." Booth said.

Brennan checked to make sure the boys had their belts on before putting on her own, "With Avery its best just to let him do what he wants, or he pouts and lectures. He does mean well, and he had done extensive research into knowing what is best for his family. This Audi was on the top of the list, he made sure it was the vehicle reserved for us, and we picked out our colors. It was the compromise that we made which was hard enough because Avery had his opinions about that too." She said with an eye roll.

They got to the Oceanarium and spent the morning watching the marine life, they opted not to go in the marsh as none of them were wearing shoes that would be good for the tour, and it had rained during the night so they just opted out.

They stopped for lunch at a quick family friendly place and discussed what they should do that evening.

"We could go on a nature tour." Chloe said, "My kids always love doing that." She glanced that the four kids who begged to sit at their own table, the adults allowed it but only if they sat at a table across from them, and there was to be no fighting or yelling.

Booth wondered how much that was going to set him back, "I don't know, seems like something like that would be awfully pricy." And he still didn't know what he owed for his part in the first activity.

Brennan shook her head, "Don't worry about that, none of us are paying for anything." She said with a sheepish expression, "Avery pays for all of us to go on outings. Don't protest, it's his way of saying he loves us."

"He doesn't know me or Parker." Booth interjected.

"But he knows me, please Booth." She said quietly, "It's not a big deal; Avery makes more money in a day then I make in a month." She said and that helped explain what Booth was up against. Avery was a very successful businessman, Chloe the doctor, Bones the Anthropologist. He wondered what Christopher did, but now wasn't the time to ask.

"Okay." He nodded, "But only because I don't want my son to miss out on anything this weekend, and because you asked so nicely."

Brennan nodded, "So the whale thing?"

Booth smiled, "I think it sounds fun."

"I'll call the Bar Harbor Whale Watching company" Chloe said picking up her cell phone and standing to move outside to make her call, she returned a few minutes later, "We'll need to hurry up here to make the next tour. It takes about three to four hours for a full tour."

"You think it will hold the kids interest for that long?" Booth asked with a worried glance at the kids table. He didn't know about the other kids, but his son wouldn't be happy on a boat with a bunch of strangers for several hours.

Chloe nodded, "It's completely narrated, they talk about the animals, the water, jokes, the whole works. They point out lighthouses, any creature that we come across as we go into the whale grounds. We stop at the Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge where we get to see the Puffin birds. The whole nine yards."

"Guess we should get the kids and get going." Booth said with a smile, a little excited himself.

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**Still awake? **


	5. Of Shaving Cream and Feathers

**Who doesn't have to work tomorrow? That's right this girl! I'm so glad that people like this story. Also, I love that everyone thinks that Avery is my version of Christian Grey, he is, I just find it funny, and for those wondering, I've already written the Booth/Avery conversation, it just hasn't fit in yet.  
I still don't own Bones, even though I wish I did since I just found out (I'm behind apparently) that David Tennant is married. *Sobs* I could use some Bones cheering up; I should probably watch the last three episodes so I'm caught up. Annnnyway.**

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Brennan reached out in front of her with the swiftness of someone who knows multiple forms of martial arts, and grabbed the young boy by his shirt collar. "Wes Thimble Relic if you don't stop leaning on over that railing I'm going to push you in myself!"

Wes pulled away from the railing and turned a glare onto the scientist, "Aunt Brennan!" he said his voice low, "Never use the middle name!" he said with a pout but was easily distracted by the dolphin swimming along the side of the boat. Moving closer to the railing he bid his aunts warning and kept his feet planted firmly to the ground being over only slightly to get a better look.

Booth watched the exchange in amusement and pulled Brennan away from the children giving Chloe a slight nod as if to say 'your turn'. Brennan allowed Booth to slip his hand to the small of the boat and lead her inside to the bar, "Two beers." He said to the bartender behind the bar before turning to his partner, "You know Bones, I never thought I'd see the day you would threaten to push a little defenseless kid over the edge of a boat."

Bones let out an unladylike snort, "Defenseless? Remind me to tell you about the time, I was asked to get something from the pantry, and two hours later was rescued by Avery." She rolled her eyes, "Who, I might add, had just managed to scale the side of the Wellington Estate and was covered in all kinds of twigs and thorns."

There was a fondness to her words as she complained, and Booth knew that his partner loved those children out there no matter what pranks they pulled. As his partner accepted the drinks from the bartender he couldn't help but wonder what their child would have been like. Would Brennan embrace her lifestyle that she had here so carefree, or would their children have to pull down her walls. Booth knew deep down that that wouldn't be the case, Brennan was excellent with children. Taking his beer from her he smiled, "This is one of those stories that I would love to hear, I'm expecting Christopher had a part in it?"

Temperance shook her head, "You'd be wrong, Christopher was in Fiji at the time, though I guess he couldn't have called or something." Her eyes filled with suspicion and Booth had no doubt that Christopher was going to experience Bones' interrogation techniques sometime this week, chuckling to himself he made a mental note to help her brush up on her skills.

"So Chloe is a doctor, you're an anthropologist, Avery is some billionaire businessman, Morgan is the guy you never see, and Christopher is…" Booth said deciding that he wanted to know more about this group of people that formed Bones other world.

Taking a drink of her beer she smiled, "Christopher is our wild card, he travels the world and writes novels based on where he has been. You might have read this books, it's _The Dyson Adventures_ by Remnant Saint."

Booth's eyebrows shot upwards as he glanced further into the bar where Christopher had found a pretty waitress to talk to, "That's Remnant Saint?" he asked, _The Dyson Adventures_ were some of his favorite books to read, he had every book in the series on his bookcase on the shelf right under the books written by the woman sitting next to him, "Really?"

Bones nodded smiling, "Get it. Remnant Saint? It's his name backwards!" she crackled with glee, "Remnant is like the remains of something, an artifact, a _relic_. Saint is Christopher, in the original Greek form Khristophoro, means Christ-Bearer. It meant that believers, such as yourself, carried Christ in their metaphoric hearts and in their thoughts. Christians took this literally and it is said that a man named Christopher crossed a stream with a young Jesus on his back as I'm sure you know that because of the St. Christopher's medal. Christopher is the saint of travelers. It's all to perfect."

Booth was surprised that she didn't say his religion was a myth this time, but didn't comment on it, and though he knew much on the subject of that particular saint he didn't stop Brennan from joyfully explaining it to him. He knew that she loved explaining things like this, and to be honest he was a little shell shocked. "Okay. Okay, so I know two famous authors and they happen to both be my favorites. I think my life just got a little brighter, why is he the wild card?"

Brennan shrugged, "Because he's the only one who didn't go to college." She said before meeting his eyes and exaggerating and eye roll, "You don't even read the good parts of the book Booth, you just like knowing what's going on with Andy and Kathy whom isn't based on anyone!"

"I have to read the good parts, I've read them all. I took them overseas with me and read them to keep the link open with you." He said quietly in all seriousness before cracking a smile, "And you know that I'm Andy!" he said trying to keep the mood light; they were on a family outing after all.

Brennan rolled her eyes again, using her shoulder to nudge his, "You are not." She stood up throwing a glance at Christopher, "We should probably go back out with the kids before Christopher tries using me to pick up a coitus partner. I made the mistake of promising a signed book, I'm pretty sure the girl thought I was going to join them in the act." Booth doubled over laughing as disgusted shivers raked through her body. "It is not amusing Booth!"

"Dad! Bones!" Parker came running into the room filled with excitement "Boooooones there is a pod of dolphins out there, come see!" he said grabbing the partners' hands and dragging them out of the room.

Booth stood at the slightly behind Parker and Bones watching as they "ohhhed and awwwed" over the dolphins in the water below. Brennan had such a carefree childlike expression on her face that he couldn't help but be caught up in the excitement. "Booth!" she said barely turning away from the mammals, "You have to come see the dolphins!" she said with a smile that reached her eyes, "Look at them." Her voice full of wonder, Booth felt something in his chest move, overwhelmed seeing Bones in this way and he knew he just knew that no matter how hard he was going to have to work to convince her. That she was the one. He was the guy, she was the girl. He could feel it with every fiber in his being. And when she reached blindly behind her annoyed that it was taking him so long to come share her joy he went along willingly, placing his hand in hers allowing her to pull him to the rail. And when she unconsciously mimicked little Wes' earlier moments by leaning to far over the rail, he put his arm around her waist being her anchor. "They are beautiful." He agreed with a smile, "But don't lean over to far, or Wes will have to call you by your full name."

Three hours later the tour boat docked and the group walked toward their cars, "I called Elsie to let her know that we were on our way back to land an hour ago, so dinner should be ready when we get back to the house." Chloe said watching as the kids in her car got in and strapped themselves in.

Brennan nodded as Booth supervised the kids in their car, "That sounds nice. I will see you when we get home." She said walking to the passenger side and getting in. Ten minutes into their drive Booth noticed the lack of sound coming from the back of the vehicle and looked in the mirror to see two sleeping children, "Guess they'll sleep good tonight." He grinned slanting a look at his partner, "What does Wes father do?"

Brennan turned to look at her partner, "Didn't I tell you…no, I guess I didn't. Morgan is the lawyer in the group." She shrugged, "You won't see much of him, he's always locked into one of the offices, but he still comes so that Wes can have the connection with his family."

Booth nodded, "I meant to ask you before getting distracted by finding out I know two of the best authors in the world…Thimble?" he asked glancing in the mirror to check that the boys were still asleep knowing that Wes would not like hearing the topic of conversation.

Brennan smiled sadly, "Wes' mother died shortly after childbirth, there were complications." She said, turning to look at her non-blood related nephew, "He was a premature baby, and so small, when he was it had been decided long before his birth that he would be Wes after Christopher. Mary was his sister." Booth felt a wave of compassion for his new friend, "But when she saw him she kept calling him Thimble. Wes loves his middle name, because his mother picked it out special just for him, but he doesn't like to be called small."

The rest of the ride was taken in a comfortable silence, and when Booth pulled to a stop in front of the big house, cutting the engine he turned to his partner only to find her sleeping. "Bones." He said softly, "Bonnnes."

Brennan's hand came up and she waved absently like she was swatting at a fly, "mmmmurph!"

Booth held in a chuckle, "Did you just call me Murph?" he asked moving his hand to her shoulder, "Come on Bones, time to rise and shine, I'm hungry."

Brennan opened her eyes, blinking at the evening light, "You are always hungry." She said with a yawn before pulling off her seatbelt. She got out of the car and opened the back door, "Come on Wes, Uncle Booth wants to go inside, better to listen to him now or he might eat you." She said shaking his shoulder Wes grumbled but got out of the car. Booth followed suit waking his own son and the foursome made their way into the house.

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Dinner was filled with laughter as everyone shared what they liked best about the whale watching tour. Brennan and Parker sprouting off facts about dolphins, and how wonderful it was to see so many. Did you know that a group of dolphins were a pod? They were mammals, not fish. Did you see the little one following his mother around? The two that must have been siblings that were playing and chasing each other. Or the one that kept right next to the boat waving at anyone who would give it attention.

Elsie and Mitch joined the family, and Booth knew that they were the grandparents these children didn't have. Parker promised that once he got his disposable cameras developed that he would send pictures, and Booth shook his head thinking that Parker had used two of those one use camera to take several pictures of the dolphins. He was going to have to go to the store before they did anything else worth taking pictures of, and to him everything was worth taking pictures of when he had Parker and Temperance at his side.

After dinner the children, who had way to much energy after such a packed full day, went swimming Elsie and Mitchell volunteering to watch the children to give the adults a little time on their own. Brennan pulling Christopher off with promises to be right back, and Booth had a feeling that Brennan was going to enlist him in some revenge prank.

Left on his own he started to make his way back to his room intent on checking his email, and maybe making a quick call to Rebecca to let her know that Parker was doing fine and was having a blast. Before he made it to the stairs Chloe intercepted him. "Hey there Special Agent would you like to join me in the library for a drink?" she asked.

Booth looked towards the stairs before turning back to the doctor, "Sure, I can't say no when such lovely company asks." He said with a smile and followed her into library; he took the glass from her after she poured them each a drink, "Thanks." He said before moving to sit in one of the chairs. "So what's on your mind?"

"Does something have to be on my mind to have a drink with a new friend?" She asked, noting his expression she grinned, "I can see why you do such a good job making the bad guys squeal. I guess I just wanted to have a few minutes to meet the man I've heard so much about. So much." She said, "And I have a question."

Booth squirmed in his chair, "Okay, what's the question?"

Chloe grinned, "Is it true that you have one of those beer hats with the straws and the whole…" she made a sweeping motion over her head, "hatness?"

Booth fought to keep the blush off his face and groaned, "That woman does not know how to keep a secret." He said, though he wasn't angry.

Chloe laughed, "I can't believe you didn't shoot her for coming into the bathroom like that, when she told me…well I laughed…but then I felt incredibly bad for you. It must have been terribly embarrassing. Sometimes that sister of mine doesn't know what she is doing when it comes to social standards, and for future reference a fake rock in an apartment building isn't the best place to hide a spare key."

"She didn't happen to share my banking information did she?" Booth asked sarcastically, downing the shot of scotch.

Chloe's grinned, "As a matter of fact." She teased, her smile going soft, "She called to tell me that her stupid partner was alive, and that she just left him sitting in his stupid bathtub with some stupid hat of beer on his head. And she thought I should know that males were stupid, and that alpha males were even stupider."

"She called me stupid that many times huh?" Booth asked, but was not offended.

Chloe nodded, "There were probably a few more times, but you know what I got out of the whole thing?" he shook his head, and she answered, "I got that my sister had her partner again, and that she was relieved to know that you hadn't died, that you didn't up and leave her whether by your own choice or by the hand of that psycho. She called you stupid because she cared and didn't know what to do about it."

Booth felt tightness in his throat and worked to clear it, "I didn't know that Sweets didn't tell her."

Chloe nodded setting her own glass aside, "I know you didn't, no one accuses you of knowing." She said, reaching over and placing her hand on his, "But, when you died…when she called to tell me that her idiot partner had taken a bullet meant for her." Chloe's eyes teared up, "She was so cold and distant, and so. You know her, you know that when something affects her so badly that she just buries herself in her work and tries to compartmentalize what is happening, and she was just so…broken." Chloe shook her head, "Sorry." She said forcing a smile, "I just wanted to talk to you tease you about your beer hat."

Booth nodded realizing that Chloe was uncomfortable for sharing something so personal about the woman she thought of as a sister, "I know that you're just jealous, and maybe for your birthday Bones and I will send you a couple that will go with different outfits and you'll be the talk of the city." He said, using his wit and charm to bring the atmosphere to a lighter place, but making sure to put the information on the back burner to process later and a little piece he put in a mental file marked 'Why Sweets must be buried in shaving cream and feathers'.

Chloe stood and Booth followed her lead, "Thank you for the drink." She said, before throwing herself into him, wrapping her arms tightly around him, "And thank you for keeping my stupid sister alive." She said into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. Pulling away Chloe wiped a few more tears away, "I'm just going to go…check on the kids." She said embarrassed and started walking towards the exit.

"Hey Chloe." He said, and she turned back, "Make sure you check your bed before you settle in for the night." He said in light warning.

Chloe looked confused before a brilliant smile lit her face and she nodded, "Thanks." She said, "I would hate to see a head of a horse in my bed. Then again I'm sure neither of those two thunderheads even knows what the Godfather is." She shook her head, and left the room.

Booth shook his head, and poured himself another shot downing it and setting his glass next to Chloe's before going upstairs and going over his emails. Nothing too important was in them, the FBI knowing that Booth was off with his kid didn't write him. Angela had sent him a short email telling she hoped that he was having a good time camping with his son, and wondering if he knew where Brennan was because she hadn't answered her phone all afternoon. Booth sent her a quick email saying he thought she had been doing a whale tour, unsure if Bone's had told anyone that he and Parker had joined her on her trip. Sweets sent an email, and he saw that it was sent to Bones as well, telling that they would need to reschedule the appointments they were missing. Booth snorted, like that was going to happen. Looking at the clock he decided the kid probably wasn't sleeping and picked up his phone to dial.

That's how Brennan found his seconds later walking in through his open door, "Hi Sweets." Booth said into the mouth piece, glancing up to meet her eyes and sighing, "No Sweets I'm not coming in during my vacation to see you. No Sweets, I doubt that Bones will agree to come and see you either. You know and while we're on the subject of Bones I jus…ouch!" he said, bending over and rubbing his leg glaring accusingly at Brennan who glared right back, "What?" he said sheepishly before going back to his phone conversation, "I'm fine. I got kicked by an angry little duck mother. No I'm not going to explain that to you. What? Oh, I was telling you that Bones…" He glanced at his partner and let out a long suffering sigh, "Bones isn't even in the state right now, so unless you have your passport handy…It's not my fault she doesn't share with you every detail of her _personal_ life….because I'm her partner….annnnnnd hanging up on you now, see you in two weeks, for one hour one day, and not a minute more." He hung up the phone and rubbed his leg again, "Seriously, that hurt." He said with a pout.

"I told you that you couldn't say anything to Sweets, I gave him my word." She said biting her lip, "It wouldn't be very fair of me to break my word like that."

Booth nodded but couldn't resist trying to change his partner's mind, "Not even when you were being forced to keep a secret from your partner who you know you should always be honest with…we are the center and the center must hold." He said with an infuriated sniffle.

Brennan looked at him for a minute before blinking slowly and nodding, "I suppose you are right, I made a hasty decision without thinking about what it would do to our partnership." She said, "If you had known we could have gone to Sweets as a united front and probably had gotten out of going to those stupid sessions."

Booth heard the word stupid and was transported back to the library. _'She called you stupid because she cared and didn't know what to do about it.'_ And he realized that Bones cared about Sweets, she really did see him as their little duckling, because sure he knew she liked the kid a little, but she actually cared about his feelings. "You know, they may be stupid, but you can't deny how fun it is to go in there and really ruffle his feathers."

Brennan smiled brightly, "That's funny because we call Sweets our duck and you said ruffle his feathers."

"I am the funny partner." Booth chuckled softly.

"I have been known to be very funny on several occasions. Why just a little while ago Christopher and I were talking about…" she trailed off and got a faraway look in her eyes, blinking she met his glaze, "You know now that I think about it, it's healthy to participate in a little bit of friendly fire." She said seriously, "So, if you will let me have the deciding vote on what is appropriate, I will be willing to teach Sweets a lesson that you don't mess with the Center."

Booth's return smile was slow and oh-so deliciously wicked, "Very nice. I agree as long as you don't decide a lecture is good enough, I want to see tears, and a mess and….gravy!"

"Gravy?"

"I haven't had much time to put thought into this Bones, I just know that I want it messy and I want it to be something that he'll never forget." He paused, "And don't think I don't know that you just agreed so I would forget that you and Christopher are planning something for Chloe."

The anthropologist got a shocked expression and tried to look innocent, "I don't know what you are talking about Booth, I have no reasons to side with Christopher if he decides to prank anyone tonight." She said with a forced offended huff.

"Suuuuuuure."

"I'm going to go write a little bit on my novel." She said wringing her hands together, "Is that okay?"

Booth tilted his head in confusion, "Why wouldn't that be okay?"

"Because I know that it is not really sociably acceptable to invite someone somewhere and then leave them."

Booth shook his head, "Don't worry about it Bones, I'll find something to occupy my time with, maybe go down to the pool and check on Parker and the kids, and then go see if there is any pie left in the fridge, and then maybe tell Chloe that she might benefit getting a hotel room for the rest of her life."

Brennan laughed, "And what makes you think that Christopher and I can't get to her there?"

Booth grinned, "See, and you said you had nothing planned for her."

Brennan rolled her eyes, "I will see you later Seeley Joseph Booth." And with that she turned on her heel and left the room, seconds later he heard her door open and close quietly.

Looking around his room, he picked up his cell and called Rebecca leaving a voicemail that everything was fine and that Parker was having a blast. Just wait until she hears about all the dolphins and he was sure that the house would be flooded with pictures when he got home. After hanging up he put his phone in his pocket and went down to the pool checking on the kids before sneaking into the kitchen where he found Elsie putting something that look suspiciously like chocolate cake in the fridge. "Hello Seeley." She said warmly.

"Hello Elsie." He grinned, "Thank you for dinner it was truly one of the best meals I've ever eaten."

Elsie blushed, "Oh, stop you. I'll get out a piece of pie, but don't you dare touch that cake, it's for tomorrow."

Booth grinned a wolfs grin and nodded, "I wouldn't dream of it."

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The words flowed from her fingertips unto the laptop Andy and Kathy were driving through the country trying to find the road out of the town they were in questioning a suspect only Andy wouldn't stop for directions and Kathy couldn't stop laughing when they ended up at the same intersection, because how many intersections could there be in such a small little town?

The knock at the door interrupted her and she hit save before calling out to whoever was on the other side to come in. The door opened to reveal Booth, "Sorry, Parker wanted to say goodnight." He said stepping into the room Parker hot on his tails.

Brennan smiled, "I do not mind." She paused, "Booth, if you were lost in the middle of a little town, would you stop to ask directions?"

Booth shook his head, "No. I could get us out of a town Bones." He said with a cocky grin.

"Goodnight Bones!" Parker said interrupting them and throwing his arms around her, "Dad is going to read me a story about Paul Bunyan, do you want to come and listen?"

"Parks, Bones probably has some insane plot going on and wants to stay and work on that, but we're here all week so you see a lot of her." Booth said, knowing that Brennan probably was on a streak of genius and would hate to be interrupted.

Brennan looked at the computer, then to Parker, and finally to Booth, "Actually, I happen to be at a good stopping point, and I find I haven't really heard a good story about the good giant and his blue companion." She said rising, "If you don't mind…"

"No Bones, Parker and I would love it if you came." He said his eyes burning into hers letting their eyes hold for a second before turning to his son, "Okay, teeth brushed and then into bed."

Once teeth were brushed and toilet issues taken care of Parker settled into bed, Booth tucking him in nice and tight, Brennan was settled into a chair looking over one of the dolphin books Booth had picked up for his son at after the tour. Parker made some huffing noises as he pulled himself out of the cocoon of blankets and pulling the covers aside, "Come on Bones, the best place for the story is in bed!" he said, patting the space beside him.

Brennan looked shell shocked, but complied, moving to the bed and laying down in the empty space, Parker throwing the covers back over them, "This is going to be so awesome you'll love it!" he said turning to his dad who settled in the chair next to the bed. "Alright Dad, Bones and I are ready."

Booth nodded opening the book and launching into the story, using different voices for all the parts, causing both the bed occupants to burst into fits of giggles. When the story came to a close Bones was listening intently, but Parker was curled into her side eyes closed tight. "Goodnight Buddy." Booth said quietly and took Brennan's hand that she held out for help getting out of the bed without waking the child. "Bones?" came the sleepy voice deep within the covers.

"Yeah Parker?" Brennan asked softly now leaning over the bed.

"I had a really good time today." He said with a yawn.

"I'm glad you did, so did I Parker." She smiled, "Sleep tight, and I'll see you in the morning."

Parker nodded into the pillow, "Love you Bones."

"I love you too."

Booth was struck with the vision of mini Bones dancing in his head. Closing the door behind them he vowed that he would make Bones see that he wasn't going anywhere even if she tried to pay Avery to hide his body on one of his properties. He walked her to her door and smiled, "Thanks for this Bones, Parker is having a great time, and so am I." he said.

Brennan smiled, "I'm glad, I'm glad you came." She said softly, moving into her room. "Are you sure you wouldn't ask for directions? Even if you passed the same building multiple times?" though she knew the answer.

"Yeah Bones, I'm sure. I could handle it." He said with a cocky smile. "Have a good night sleep, don't stay up to late."

She smiled, "You too Booth. Goodnight." She started to close her door, "Booth?"

He turned back to her, "Yeah."

"Andy does share certain…similarities with you." She said before closing the door.

Booth stood rooted to the ground before a smirk broke out across his face and he whistled entering his room for the night.

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**_"It is better, I think, to grab at the stars than to sit flustered because you know you cannot reach them."  
-R.A. Salvatore_**


	6. History Lessons and Tomato Sauce

**My computer completely deleted this chapter and I had to rewrite it. Bad, computer, bad! I don't own Bones but I own a sonic screwdriver. I gave you some Booth/Avery, some Bones/Booth and some Parker. Please enjoy. No seriously. Enjoy.  
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Monday morning started off with a downpour and Booth found it hard to drag himself out of bed, this time there were no children to wake him up. He went through his morning routine, and dressing in jeans and a Rolling Stones t-shirt before opening his door. Bones' door was pulled closed this morning and he heard no sound from inside, wondering if she was still sleeping he moved downstairs to the breakfast room, Avery was the only occupant and Booth walked in with a nod. "House is quiet this morning." He said, filling a cup of coffee.

Avery nodded, "It would seem so." He said with a slight smile, "Of course some of us fared better the others. I fear that Chloe had the misfortune to wake up in a room full of maple syrup. Apparently that prompted a lot of screaming. A lot. Of Screaming."

Booth barely managed to keep coffee from coming out his nose, "Please tell me that my partner had nothing to do with that."

"I could do that." Avery said, and Booth breathed a sigh of relief until he continued, "But it wouldn't be very honest of me, and I know that you like honesty." Avery took a much needed hit of caffeine, "She's not here you know."

"Not here?" Booth asked.

Avery nodded, "With the Pines coming Christopher and Temperance have taken to the store to get fresh ingredients for tonight's dinner they have ordered Elsie out of the kitchen. Not that that was to hard of a thing, Elsie loves when they cook, and now that she has trained them to clean up the kitchen she doesn't even stay to supervise."

Booth couldn't imagine Brennan needed to be supervised in the kitchen, having had many meals she's made in the past. Avery seemed to know this and grinned, "She's not the problem. Christopher once got a steak stuck to the ceiling to this day neither of them will come clean to how it happened or what was on it to make the steak stick to the ceiling." He shook his head in disbelief.

Booth chuckled, "I can't imagine Bones letting him get away with things like that, but then again, I didn't think she had it in her to construct a syruping ambush."

Avery looked at him and Booth resisted the urge to squirm in his seat feeling like a specimen under Hodgins microscope. Avery seemed to find what he was looking for and with a nod he set his cup aside and leaned slightly forward. "It's annoyed me the last few days that you keep referring to Temperance as _Bones_ it seems so derogatory." He said, and when Booth started to protest he interrupted, "But I can see now, that you don't mean it that way, you are very affectionate when talking about her, and she in turns doesn't mind when you refer to her as Bones."

Booth shrugged, "That name grows on you."

Avery nodded, "I'm sure, much the way Booger would grow on you if I started to call you that now." He said sarcastically, "I think it's the person that is behind the name more than the term. I know that there are only two people she allows to call her by that nickname both of whom could be referred to as Booth."

Seeley shrugged, "A lot of partners have things between the two of them, and you have to be able to have a good connection with your partner to make it work."

"I'm surprised to hear you say that seeing as she blackmailed you into letting her be your equal." Avery shot back.

Booth sighed rubbing his hand over his face and refilling his coffee cup, "I feel like we are doing more than just sharing random Bones facts, so I'm assuming that you want to bring something up, maybe threaten to bury me on some foreign property of yours. Go ahead, I'm all ears."

Avery stared at him blankly for a pregnant moment before a ghost of a smile fitted across his face, "Chloe did tell me that you were quite intuitive, a very good skill to have when trying to keep my sister safe." He shrugged, "I have no immediate plans to add a burial plot next to the one with a Christopher Relic tombstone. I did want to bring something up with you though. While you may be working with the FBI, I have been working to build up this life." He said gesturing to the room around them. "In doing so I've come across many trades and ways to get little factoids." Avery stood, "The children should be up for breakfast soon, would you care to join me in the library."

Booth looked the man over before shrugging and rising, "Always the library." He said following the man to the room in question. Once there Avery took a seat at the desk and Booth in one of the chairs on the other side. "So you were about to share your deep dark secret?"

"Oh no Agent Booth, never mine." Avery said shifting some papers around on his desk and pulling a file from out of the drawer, he opened it barely skimming the top page before meeting Booth's stare, "Your father was an abusive man, and your mother abandoned you…"

"Hey!" Booth said moving to rise but Avery held up a hand, "You said you were all ears." When Booth sat back down with his arms crossed stubbornly over his chest the other man continued, "You were beaten by the man who sired you. In my records you took beatings that were meant for your brother…."

"How could you know that?" Booth asked and his mind immediately turning to his partner even as he dismissed the thought, Bones would never share anything like that.

Avery shrugged, "It doesn't matter, and as I have the information the source is irrelevant, I also know that if your grandfather hadn't told your father to leave…" Avery seemed to be taken someplace else and Booth wondered if he was thinking about his own past, "Anyway. I've seen in foster care how situations like that can turn out; you could have gone the other way. Instead you moved on and joined the army. You were a sniper with the 101st Airborne Division, 75th Ranger Regiment, and Special Forces. You also, besides your excellent marksmanship skills are very good at throwing knives." Avery turned a pointed look at Booth, "We'll discuss you using that particular skill at a circus in a show involving my sister later."

"You were a master sergeant when you left the army serving your country in the Gulf War, Somalia and Kosovo. Were taken prisoner while serving as an army ranger, and though my sources filled me in on some of the…finer…points of your stay I will not rehash those memories." Avery paused, "You received many badges of honor for your time, including those of the Bronze Star, National Defense Service Medal and the Army Good Conduct Medal. You have done really well for yourself, and yet you allowed yourself to be partnered with a lesser companion when joining the FBI. You have the highest solve rate once you joined Temperance and her team of scientists. You've endured many hardships though. You've been shot at kidnapped; your son has been threatened."

Booth felt the faint glow of red cover his body and he narrowed his eyes, "I don't want to know how you got all this information, but you got one thing wrong. Bones is not my lesser, how could you even say that when you claim her as your sister?" He asked growing more agitated, "Bones can hold her own better than some of the most seasoned agents out there. She is very intelligent and if it wasn't for her and her team of scientists there would be a lot more unsolved murders."

"You misunderstood me." Avery said, "Apologies for I did not mean that Temperance did not deserve to serve as your partner. Only that she is not an agent with the FBI her skills are of better use in that lab of hers or in some remote jungle digging up remains and other lost artifacts. She has no formal training on how to handle herself in confrontation in your world, and yet you let her be your partner. You willingly decided to take on an extra charge not knowing at the time if she could have your back like you have to have hers." Avery shook his head, "You took on the responsibility of making sure that my sister comes out of every altercation intact, often putting yourself in the line of fire, both literally and metaphorically."

Booth shrugged and this time the red covering his skin was born out of embarrassment more than anger, "I'd do anything to keep her safe."

"I will come back to that in a moment as well." Avery said, "When Pam Nunan came after Temperance for thinking she was coming between you and her delusional relationship…if I had lost my sister." Avery paused clearing his throat, "When I found out you were still alive I had every intention of sending you money, I was willing to pay you for saving my sister's life by laying down yours. But neither you nor my sister would have been too happy with that. I wonder why you have such a hard time with those of wealth Agent Booth." Avery shook his head, "If Temperance hadn't shot and killed Ms. Nunan you could rest assured that she would have been dealt with accordingly, I allow no threats to my family."

Booth thought back to all the foreign property and made a mental note to have Avery Mead checked out, but decided to forgo it, it wasn't something that Brennan would appreciate, and if he was into shady dealings and Bones knew about it, there was no way she would allow it to continue under her nose, or bring his son into the mix. "I would jump in front of any bullet that came her way if I could."

Avery suddenly slammed the file closed making the former sniper jump, "Then why would you shoot her yourself?" he asked angered.

"I- I never shot Bones, if anything she is the one who shot me and in case you didn't know in that magical file of yours it ricocheted off a lock she was trying to shoo-"

"You practically jumped my sister outside of the Hoover building." Avery said with a faint hint of amusement in his tone before he grew serious, "You asked her to give it a chance to give you a chance. You told her that you wanted 30, 40 or 50 years and that you were the guy who knew." Avery paused as if confused but shook it off, "You told her you were that guy and then you told her you had to move on, and you brought that blonde reporter back."

Booth leaned forward in his chair, "No listen, you have no right getting into our busi-"

"I have _every_ right to get into business that I think affects my family, I told you I allow for no threats to come to my family, be that a serial killer of someone who hurts this house emotionally. I will _not_ stand for it!" Avery said using his fist against the desk to illustrate his point, "You brought this…this…trouble maker and you flaunted her in front of your partner. You pulled away from her after telling her that you would still work together, that you would still be a team, and yet everything changed. You shot her with an emotional bullet."

Booth leaned back heavily into his chair and the silence stretched between the room, clearing his throat, Booth leaned forward his head in his hands, "You're correct, I did shoot to kill my partner." He groaned, "How could she even stand to be in the same state as me?" and as he said it he had thoughts of his partner going back to the Maluku expedition. Fear gripped his heart, after all she never told him where she was going…she wouldn't…pulling out his phone he pressed speed dial one, his heart plummeting into his stomach when she answered on the second ring, "Where are you?"

_"Shopping with Christo-no put that back!...Are you okay? Did something happen?"_

Booth sighed in relief having Avery's words confirmed, "Everything is fine. I just thought…You know maybe you decided to go buy me a horse for lunch or something." He heard her laugh quietly.

_"If I can get Christopher out of the candy isle I will be back soon…it's pouring outside, Chloe was going to talk to you about taking the kids to the Abbe Museum, and they have exhibits and workshops for children. And the Acadia Repertory Theatre has a children's theatre program."_

Booth nodded knowing she couldn't see him, and looked up to find Avery staring at him intently, "That sounds good Bones, I'll be sure to find her and talk to her about it. Drive back safely."

_"Booth are you sure you're okay? You didn't corner Morgan did you? I thought I said he was standoffish, only comes to these gatherings so Wes can interact with his late mother's family." Brennan's voice filled with concern._

"No, no. Haven't seen him I've just been thinking, I've missed you Bones." Booth said softly.

_"You saw me only hours ago. Christopher put that down! I'm serious; if I have to yell that you're stealing things to get you thrown out…I'm not above it! Booth I have to go. Christopher is playing with the live lobsters. They are not puppets you shouldn't be waving them around like that. How would you like it if someone stranger was making puppet shows with your food? CHRISTOPHER!" There was a loud sound followed by the sound of Christopher yelping in pain. "Are you okay? That's what you get for taking those rubber bands off the Chelipeds." There was a response from someone Booth didn't recognize "The pincher and crusher claws you moron, you work in a store located near the shores where you can find…just get him a band aid or something." Booth could practically hear her roll her eyes, "Booth? Booth I really have to go…I've…I've missed you too." And with that the connection was ended._

Booth looked down at his phone for a second before meeting Avery's stare, "Uh. Christopher had a run in with a lobster…there may or may not be blood loss."

Avery nodded like it was an everyday occurrence, moving more papers around and Booth wondered if any of them were important, or just made to look like he was doing work. "When you pulled her out of the ground after that Taffet woman buried her alive, I knew that you were someone I could trust; when you saved her from that agent who was going to feed her to those dogs to stop her from telling the world that he was a double crossing agent…I knew that I could let my guard down. When you threatened that gang leader who put a hit out on her, I knew that she was safe. I know that no matter what you will continue to keep her safe from the world, but who is going to keep her safe from you?"

"I'm not going to hurt Bones." Booth said both to the man across from him and to himself, "I'm not going to hurt Bones because she's it for me. I'm done with everyone else; I'll wait those 40 or 50 years just to be with her."

Avery nodded, "I figured it must be something like that, the way you've been doting on her the last couple of days. Also, thank you from keeping her from falling into the water when she tried to get a closer look at the dolphins."

"You're welcome." Booth found himself strangely at peace with the man who was just accusing him of shooting his partner, "Does Bones know you have someone watching her?"

Avery smiled a secret smile, "She knows that she can't so much as sneeze in a jungle surrounded by nothing but trees and vines without it getting back to me, yes." He sighed, putting the file back in the drawer he'd pulled it out from earlier, "Alright. I conclude to you the safety of my non-birth related sister on all accounts except for one." Booth raised his eyebrow in question and Avery supplied the answer to the unspoken question, "Stop throwing knives at her face."

Booth nodded standing, "That was a onetime thing, and I was very uncomfortable with it the whole time." He shrugged, "You know, Avery, I like you. You're the creepy older family member that secretly has a heart no matter how much you lecture and scare everyone."

Avery shrugged, "I have to keep this circus in line somehow. Now, I need to get some work done if I'm going to have any spear time to spend with the Pines tonight. If you'll excuse me Agent Booth?"

Booth nodded and started to leave the room when Avery's voice called him back, "Maybe it would help if you told her why you really broke up with Hannah." And with a little amusement he added, "Yes, I know about that as well."

Booth nodded and without another word left the room, closing the door behind him he almost ran into Chloe. "There you are I've been looking all over for you." She paused looking at the door behind her and her expression dropped, "You weren't talking to Avery were you? You're not going to leave, you can't! Don't listen to him he's just really protective of everyone, Temperance especially they were in the same foster home together…" she trailed off looking at him with pleading eyes. "Please don't go."

Booth shook his head laying a hand on the woman's shoulder, "I'm not going anywhere Avery and I were just talking, and I'm glad that Bones has a support system that she can rely on." He said, "Now, Bones mentioned something about an outing?"

"Bones did mention something like that." The woman in question stepping into the room carrying a bunch of bags, "Help would be welcomed." And Booth immediately moved to relieve her of some of her bounty Chloe grabbing a couple as well and they all made their way to the kitchen. "Christopher will be no help to me at all; his whole hand is covered in bandages. I can only hope to get everything done before the Pines get here." She said worrying on her lower lip.

Chloe looked at the partners and smiled, "Actually I was going to ask Booth if he wanted to go with me, but maybe I should take Christopher. The kids will be watching a show and doing things at the museum so it won't be hard for us to look after them. And Booth and his two strong hands can stay and help you get everything ready."

Brennan's face lit up and she looked to him in hope, and even if he wanted to he couldn't turn her down, "Of course I'll stay and help you, let me just get Parker ready and I'll be right back down to help." He said, and after such an emotional and trying morning without thinking he leaned over and kissed her forehead before walking out of the room.

The two women watched the door before turning to look at each other. "Why did he do that?" Brennan asked.

"Oh, honey, I think you know why." Chloe said pulling her sister in for a hug, "Okay, I'll let you work with that lovely piece of male specimen, I've got to go get our kids ready for a fun rainy day." She said and practically skipped out of the room. Brennan watched on with a shake of her head thinking that she really missed Angela.

Once she put all of their buys away except for everything she would need immediately she started pulling out pots and pans. Booth entered walking over to the sink and washing his hands, "Parker sure loves spending time with those kids." He said casually and Temperance wondered if he even knew he kissed her however chaste it was. "Alright." He said rubbing his now clean hands together, "What do you want me to do?"

Brennan put the raw hamburger into a pan and added spice to it, "How about you make sure that cooks until nice and golden brown. You'll have to make sure to separate it, like you were going to make….sloppy joes? Yes, I believe that is what they are called." She handed him a spatula before moving to the island bar and began chop up kielbasa into little chunks once that task was complete she moved to the stove and put another pan on the burner adding some butter. Letting it melt she turned to Booth, "We are having spaghetti, its Mr. Pines favorite but he doesn't like meatballs he likes when it's just hamburger chunks. I find that I miss Angela." She said moving to the cutting board and using it to transport the kielbasa over to the stove before adding it to the buttery pan.

It took a minute for Booth to catch up, "You could call her." He said referring to her change of topic while he separated and mixed the hamburger to give it the even brown glow Bones requested.

"I…she has been…different lately." Bones confessed, using a large wooden spoon to mix the kielbasa and spices together.

"Different how?"

Booth watched as she pinkened, "She is so happy in her marriage that she assumes I need to be in a relationship too. When I told her I wasn't interested…" she trailed off with a shrug.

Booth nodded, "Angela is the heart, it just means that she cares, and maybe she cares a little too much, but she cares about you and you can't fault her for that." He said, "If you give her a call I'm sure she would love to hear from you."

Brennan studied the pan in front of her for several minutes before nodding, "I suppose you are right. I will call her tomorrow, I think."

Booth nodded before gesturing to hamburger, "How's this?" he asked.

Brennan checked over his hamburger before turning the heat down on both meats and moving to a cupboard pulling out a pasta colander setting it in the sink. "Put the hamburger in that, it will drain the grease." Booth did as told, and Brennan put a pot on the now abandoned burner. Using all fresh ingredients Booth watched his partner make a tomato sauce from scratch. When she was finished she put the kielbasa in and he added the hamburger. "There." She reduced the heat to the lowest setting, "I'll have to stir it every once in a while, but that will do for now." She moved to the refrigerator and being pulling out fruit and other items. "I'm going to make a strawberry pie, and a peanut butter pie, you don't have to help." She said and when she realized it sounded like she didn't want him around she added, "I just mean, you haven't watched T.V. in a few days, there is one down the hall in the room to the right…"

"Okay." Booth said but stayed where he was.

Sensing that he wasn't going to leave Brennan reached behind her and pulled out another knife, "If you'll cut the ends off the strawberries and cut them in half long ways. I'll finish making the crusts."

Booth took the knife and the two worked for the next hour in a comfortable silence, once the pies were in the oven they made a fresh salad adding some vegetables Booth wasn't familiar with and Brennan told him what each were. He couldn't help but want this domestic life with her.

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The children walked from the theater re-enacting their favorite parts from the play, "Dr. Bones says that in Minnesota they think that Paul Bunyan came from there, but I think Maine has it right." Parker said and added with a smirk, "And so does Dr. Bones."

"Parker." Chloe said moving to walk next to the boy, "Does Dr. Bones always tell you things like that?"

Parker looked at her confused, "Yes. Dr. Bones knows almost everything, and she always makes sure that I know too. She used to help me with my homework, I'm hoping now she will again."

"Why did she stop?" Chloe asked moving her eyes around to watch all the children but keeping her focus on the young Booth child.

"Well." Parker said like he had all the answers in the world, "Her and dad used to date even though they both say they didn't. But they were always looking at each other in that goofy way adults look at each other and we used to do everything together." He said before the smile dropped from his face, "But they broke up and Bones went to Mal…on her dig, and dad went to war…and when he came back he came back with _Hannah_."

"And you didn't like Hannah?" Chloe asked.

Parker shrugged, "She was okay, but Dr. Bones is cooler, and while Hannah was around Dr. Bones never came over, and we never went over to see her. Not even to use her pool!" he said, "But now Hannah is gone and dad and I are here. I think they are going to get back together." Parker said with a huge smile on his face.

"And you would be okay with that?" Chloe asked, though she was pretty sure she knew the answer to the question by the brilliant smile on the boys face.

Parker nodded enthusiastically, "I sure do. Dad is always happier when Dr. Bones is around. And Dr. Bones she works a lot but my dad and I make sure she always eats dinner, and swims, and we're trying to help her watch a lot of movies." He paused, "But only ones I'm allowed to watch." He grinned, "And Dr. Bones is the coolest person I know, she knows practically _everything_! She used to help me with my homework and everyone in class would be jealous because I know a famous scientist!" he said, "And she makes a way better girlfriend, she's always there for my dad and he is always there for her. Hannah was always going off to write for her stupid paper." He said with a shake of his head, "Do you think Dr. Bones and my dad are going to get back together?"

Chloe bit her lip, "I hope so Parker."

Parker nodded, "Ms. Chloe?" he asked.

"Yes Parker?"

"I like you." He said with a small smile before growing serious, "But you can't call Dr. Bones Bones."

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**"There is something in humility which strangely exalts the heart."  
-Saint Augustine**


	7. Syrup Dreams and Lobster Chelipeds

**Don't own them, but I like to borrow them because they are shiny. FYI, I'm starting Monday morning over from Bones POV, so…yeah…  
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Temperance Brennan woke with a start today was important day. She hastily threw the covers back and padded over to her door trying to open it as quietly as possible. Sneaking down the hallway trying not to wake the occupants in this wing of the house she made her way down one flight of steps and up the other into the other wing that house the rest of her family. Pushing open the door she requested she snuck in side ready to spring onto the bed when a voice in the dark whispered, "I've been waiting for you for an hour. Do you know that I went into that godforsaken Wal-Mart buying all the syrup and honey that I could find? People looked at me like I was some sort of perverted sexpert!"

Brennan rolled her eyes in the dark, "Come on let's get this over with so I can get a couple more hours of sleep before heading to the store, I want to makes sure that we get everything we need for tonight."

Christopher nodded and grabbed the reusable shopping bags full of the surgery breakfast toppings. They made their way down the hallway and opened the door to Chloe's room as quietly as possible. Brennan moved clothes, shoes and anything else in site that was personal and moved it into the closet; after all, the goal was to pull a prank, not to ruin things that had meaning.

Christopher worked to cover the bedside tables with honey, while Brennan squirted the syrup all over the floor, the partners in crime working together to not box either member in a surgery situation. Once there was only a little path from the bed to the door left uncovered they worked on covering the bed the best they could without physically touching it and risking waking their sleeping sister.

Task completed Christopher moved to the door and Brennan took a new bottle of syrup spreading it carefully from the bed to the door, as she ran out of product she would had Christopher an empty bottle and she would give him a new one. Getting to the door she covered the inner door knob with syrup and walked into the hallway.

Christopher grinned reaching into one of the bags full of now empty bottles and dug out a couple of bags, holding them up for Brennan's inspection she found them to be those colorful marshmallows and she smiled. Taking one of the offered bags she opened it reaching in and grabbing a handful she tossed some into the room not really caring about the sleeping occupant. Marshmallows were light and airy, it wasn't like they would make too much sound when they hit the things, and they wouldn't hurt if Chloe was hit with some and she wouldn't likely waken up.

When the last bag was emptied they pulled the door closed quietly and waved to each other going back to their own rooms for a few more hours of much needed sleep.

The next time Temperance woke she hurried to get ready for the day pulling on jeans and a t-shirt. Going downstairs she had a quick breakfast consisting of a muffin and some coffee. When she was halfway through with her muffin and on her second cup of coffee Christopher walked in his attire almost matching her own. He yawned out a 'morning' before going to get a muffin to eat and a cup of coffee.

"I'm thinking that we should make homemade spaghetti tonight." She said casually, they had already decided that they were going to cook for the Pines but they hadn't decided on what they were going to cook. "It's one of his favorite meals."

Christopher nodded taking a big bite of his muffin, "Sounds good. I'm ready to go when you are." He said, and Brennan was both surprised and relieved that nothing came flying out of his mouth as he spoke.

Brennan grabbed her bag off the table and stood, Christopher following suit. They made it out into the great room just as Avery was coming down the stairs, "Morning." He called to the duo, "Going somewhere?"

"To get some things for tonight's dinner." Brennan said, and to be honest neither wanted to be there when Chloe woke up.

Avery nodded moving towards the library, "Travel safe, it's raining."

Brennan nodded, "We will be back in a little while, do you need anything while we are out?" at the shake of his head she added, "If anyone misses us you'll tell them we'll be right back?" This time he nodded.

There was a slightly muffled scream coming from the siblings' wing of the house, it was far enough away that they only just heard it, Avery moved towards the stairs as Christopher grabbed Brennan's arm calling out, "Okay, so we'll see you later." And the two practically ran out the door, down the steps and into the Audi.

They made it out of the driveway before bursting into laughter, both trying to one up the other for what they imagined was going on in the house at that moment. It made the short ride to the grocery store very pleasant despite the rain that was falling harder all around them.

When they got to the store they grabbed a shopping cart, and once they had almost everything for the meal they planned for the night, they went to one end of the store and started working their way to the other side just in case they spotted something else they needed.

They had made it to the candy store, arguing over Christopher putting candy into the shopping cart, and Brennan taking it out and putting it back on the shelves, "We don't need any candy!"

"Yes we do, you can never have too much candy!" Christopher said pulling a couple bags of pixie stixs off the shelf and tossing them around Brennan and into the cart.

"Christopher!" she said just as her phone rang, pulling it out she answered keeping her narrowed glare on her brother, "Brennan."

_"Where are you?" It was Booth, of course, and he sounded a little out of it._

"I'm shopping with Christo-" she watched in horror as Christopher put several bags of mixed candies in the cart, "no put that back!" she returned her attention to the phone call at hand with one last pointed look at her shopping companion, "Are you okay? Did something happen?" There was something in his voice that caused her concern.

_Booth sighed, "Everything is fine. I just thought…You know maybe you decided to go buy me a horse for lunch or something."_

Temperance couldn't stop the laugh over the horse joke, as she took control of the shopping cart and started making her way out of temptation isle. "If I can get Christopher out of the candy isle I will be back soon." She said, though she wasn't looking forward to the drive back knowing that it would be in the rain, which reminded her, Chloe had called to yell at both of them and after they gave their most insincere apologies Chloe had mentioned what she wanted to do with the kids to make sure they still had a fun day even with the rain. "It's pouring outside, Chloe was going to talk to you about taking the kids to the Abbe Museum. They have exhibits and workshops for the children. And then the Acadia Repertory Theatre has a children's theatre program."

_"Sounds good Bones, I'll be sure to find her and talk to her about it. Drive back safely."_

She could tell that he was using that tone where he was worried or annoyed with something but didn't want to bother or upset her, she hoped it wasn't something she did, and maybe she shouldn't have made the comment about him and Andy last night. Maybe she really did miss her chance. "Booth are you sure you're okay?" a thought struck her, "You didn't corner Morgan did you? I thought I said he was standoffish, only comes to these gatherings so that Wes can interact with his late mother's family." Not that they didn't try to include Morgan as well, just the lawyer just didn't seem interested.

_"No, no. Haven't seen him I've just been thinking. I've missed you Bones" he said sincerely._

Brennan smiled at the declaration and hope sparked that maybe they hadn't missed their chance after all, "You saw me only hours ago." She said looking over to make sure Christopher hadn't snuck back to the candy isle, instead finding him playing with one of the live lobsters. "Christopher put that down! I'm serious if I have to yell that you are stealing things to get you thrown out…I'm not above it!" to spite her he picked up another one and started making them 'kiss' by pressing their bodies together, "Booth I have to go. Christopher is playing with live lobsters." And now they were dancing a really bad rendition of the Can-Can. "They are not puppets you shouldn't be waving them around like that. How would you like it if some stranger was making puppet shows with your food?" she asked and moved closer as he removed the rubber bands holding the claws closed. "CHRISTOPHER!" she said in warning but it was too late the lobster with the free claw found it's tormenter's hand and clamped down hard.

In shock and pain Christopher let the other lobster fall as he jumped back knocking into a display of bread and falling to the ground. He pulled the lobster off his hand yelling in pain drawing the attention of other shoppers and staff. "Are you okay?" she asked bending near him as an employee did as well, "That's what you get for taking those rubber bands off the Chelipeds." She said matter-of-factly.

The employee turned to her with a blank expression, "He did what to what?"

Brennan rolled her eyes annoyed, "The pincher and crusher claws, you moron, you work in a store located near the shores where you can find…" she trailed off Christopher was hurt, this wasn't the time to give a lesson to someone, "just get him a band aid or something." Booth would have been proud of her for not continuing her lecture. BOOTH! "Booth?" She asked wondering if he was still on the line, "Booth I really do have to go…I've" she took a deep breath, "I've missed you too." And with that she hung up the phone putting it back into her pocket.

"Were you seriously having a heart to heart as I lay here bleeding to death?" Christopher glared at her holding his hand protectively.

Brennan looked over his hand; there was a little blood and a lot of swelling. "I was not having a heart to heart!"

The employee came back with the manager who apologized many times offering to pay for the groceries, while Brennan applied that bandages they had brought presumably from the first aide section of the store. She was as gentle as she could be using her skill to make sure no bones had been broken. "That's okay. "She said helping Christopher stand, "It was an accident." She said knowing that the fault didn't happen because of their service but because her brother was a total idiot.

They paid for their purchases with promises that Christopher was okay, and they wouldn't be suing the store. The drive back was made mostly in silence. Christopher pouting that he was hurt, and Brennan annoyed that he had gotten hurt for acting like a little kid.

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After making the sauce with Booth's help Brennan returned to her room getting a couple more hours of sleep, she had after all gotten up in the middle of the night for her prank, and then gotten up extra early to go shopping with Christopher for their supplies.

When she woke a few hours later, she opened the door to find that Booth's door was also open and he was in watching TV on the small television, when he noticed her he shut off the T.V. and stood moving towards her, "I'm sorry did the TV wake you up?" at the shake of her head he grinned, "Did you have a good rest?"

Brennan nodded, "It was alright, I tossed and turned but finally fell asleep, I feel more rested." She said, "I need to go downstairs and check the sauce."

"I stirred it a couple of times while you were sleeping it smells amazing." He said following her down the hallway, "I don't understand why you made it so soon."

"What do you mean?" she asked glancing at him.

"I'm just saying that I don't understand why we made the sauce 32 hours before we were planning on using it." Booth said as the partners walked through the oversized house making their way to the kitchen.

"Booth, it has in no way, been 32 hours." Brennan said with an eye roll, "The sauce has to simmer so the flavor cooks into everything. It's not one of those disgusting cans you just peel the lid off and heat." She said with a shudder, "Meat sauce, what does that even mean? Have you looked at some of that sauce? Explain to me where the meat is!" she pushed open the door, moving to a drawer and pulling out a large spoon. Moving to the stove she took the lid off setting it aside and dipped the spoon into the red mixture. Holding up the sauce filled spoon she blew on it before offering it to Booth.

"What?" he asked.

"I need you to taste it, it's got meat in it…" she said, "I need to know if it tastes perfectly. Not good Booth, it has to be perfect."

"You really care a lot about these Pine people?" Booth asked.

"I was locked in the trunk for two days, if it wasn't for Mr. Pine." She trailed off.

Booth pulled up short, "Wait, I thought Christopher's father is the one who got you out of that trunk." He said remembering back to the first meal he shared with the prankster.

Brennan nodded, "He is."

"But his last name is Relic." Booth said raising his eyebrow.

Brennan nodded, "That's correct." She smiled at a memory, "After getting Avery and I out of the foster care system when I was fifteen we came to stay with him and his family. And the help would always call us Master Mead and Mistress Brennan." She said and couldn't help the look of discomfort at being addressed as such. "Christopher became annoyed and decided that if we got to keep our names instead of taking the names of our new 'parents' then he was changing his name too. I'm not even sure how he came up with Relic, but Mr. Pine said that if that was something he wanted to do then he wouldn't stop Christopher." She grinned, "I think it part of it was because after Avery and I got more comfortable with the family we started calling them our family and Christopher always thought it was fun to call us siblings and then stay our full names. It always confused people that we had three different names. Mary kept Pine though, she was always hanging out with us but didn't need to feel different, or maybe by being the only child to have the name Pine she was different." She shrugged.

Booth stored all that information in his head, along with everything Avery had shared with him, it had already been an emotionally trying day and it wasn't nearly over yet. He was finally going to meet the man that saved his partner. "I'm glad that you have everyone here to look out for you."

Brennan nodded, "I am too. Though I am glad that I also have dad and Russ too." She looked up at him, "They know about this family." She said, "Dad said he watched out for me, so he knew that I ended up okay."

Booth nodded, "I'm glad that they are okay with it, or at least not making you feel bad for finding a family when yours couldn't be there for you."

Brennan nodded not saying anything for several seconds before remembering the spoon in her hand that she luckily hadn't spilled. "So that's why this meal has to be perfect."

Booth nodded more understanding of why his partner was acting like a basket case over a meal. "Okay, I'll give me honest opinion." He said and she held up the spoon for him to take. Booth looked at the spoon before meeting his partner's eyes. With a bold move he took hold of her wrist instead of the spoon handle and brought her arm closer so he could get the spoon in his mouth. The sauce had grown lukewarm but it was still very delightful and he closed his eyes stopping the moan before it embarrassed him. "Please say you'll come over and cook for me every day." He said opening his eyes and releasing her.

Brennan was looking at him with an unreadable expression, giving a slight shake of her head to clear her thoughts she tilted her head, "Why do you need me to cook for you?"

Booth chuckled, "Because that is the best sauce I have ever tasted." He said honestly, "I was kidding about coming over to cook for me."

Brennan watched him for a moment before shrugging, "I could do that." She said moving to put the spoon in the sink so she wouldn't have to look at him, "A couple times a week if you would like."

"I would like, but you don't have to do that. I can feed myself." He said watching her, a little worried that he had scared her off, willing to give her room, but unwilling to let her go.

Brennan shrugged, "I know, but if I came over and cooked for you, you wouldn't be eating burgers and fries all the time. You'd get a little healthier…at least a couple times a week." She turned and met his glaze, "I know plenty of ways to prepare dishes that would satisfy your need for your alpha foods of unhealthy meats, but prepared in a way that would also be healthier for you then going out to eat. Or, I'm sure, healthier than having you prepare them yourself."

Booth didn't know whether to be offended that she thought he ate hamburgers and fries all the time or that he probably didn't know how to –which he didn't- cook a healthy meal version of his favorite meals. But he wasn't going to let that stop him from accepting the offer of having the woman that he loved come over to his place to take care of him. And while she was doing that, he was going to woo her until she couldn't say no to giving them a chance. "I accept." He said with a wide smile.

Which she returned, "On one condition," she paused and he raised his eyebrow in question, "if I'm going to be doing all this cooking for you then I'm going to expect payment in form of one Seeley Booth Grilled Cheese Special." She said and held out her hand to shake on her terms.

Booth looked at her hand and paused as if he really had to think about it. "Okay, but one of these meals better contain some macaroni and cheese." He took her hand in his and shook it, holding on a little longer then needed before releasing her and stepping back.

Brennan grinned before laughing a little, "I find it humorous that we just negotiated meals." She said laughing again, and Booth joined in. When they stopped Brennan got serious, "The sauce was okay then?"

Booth shook his head, "Better than okay, I told you best I've ever had. Seeley Booth Seal of Approval."

She squinted at him, "Is there really such a thing as the Seeley Booth Seal of Approval? Because I haven't heard of it and I've traveled a lot."

He chuckled, "Not yet, but mark my words, by the end of the week you'll get your seal, and an official document saying that you're got it."

"Got it what?" she asked.

"It." He replied, "You know, _it_. The X factor, the right stuff."

"The X Factor." She repeated.

Booth stared at her, "You know what we have a lot of T.V. to catch up on. When we get home Parker and I are going to start your lessons up again. We'll take on the X Factor; it's like American Idol only so much better because it isn't quite as stupid."

"Why would I want to watch something that was stupid?" she asked seriously, "And who is the American Idol, are you talking about the president because let me just tell you…"

"Seriously Bones? Not even American Idol, I guess it's not important, the show lost its appeal years ago, and now that Simon and Paula are gone it's not even worth it." He said.

Brennan nodded like she agreed with him when in reality she had no clue who the American Idol was, who Simon or Paula were, though she assumed that one of them must be the idol. "Okay." She said non committed having no idea what he was talking about.

"You know what never mind, we'll iron out the details later, and right now we need to make this place sizzle. What needs done?" he asked wanting to take as much stress away from her as he could.

Brennan looked around the room and shrugged, "I'll need to cook the pasta, but I won't do that until they arrive so it isn't overcooked. Elsie set the table already…I guess its all set."

Booth nodded, "So why do you go upstairs work on that book of yours. Make sure you tell how wonderful Andy is at making hamburger a beautiful brown and how delicious his sauce tastes." He added with a wink.

Temperance laughed, "He didn't make the sauce, I mean, you didn't make the sauce I made the sauce you helped with the other stuff."

"Cooked the hamburger didn't I? Ergo, I made the sauce complete." He said cockily, "Which mean's Andy is one good cook."

Brennan just laughed, "If it makes you sleep better at night."

Booth nodded trying to look serious, "It does." He cracked a smile.

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Because the prank and the lobster thing were on my mind. And look! Its 2am my normal posting time, so you get this extra post tonight. Hope it wasn't terrible.**


	8. The Great Mr Pine

**Sorry about not posting last night, I feel bad since everyone keeps commenting on my quick posts, but my internet went down. Sorry!  
Well, here we are again. Don't own them.  
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At four o'clock the house came to life as everyone tried to get ready for the new arrival, Booth picked out some of the nicer clothes he'd packed for both him and his son. Parker understood that this was an important dinner but didn't understand why, so after he got dressed he went to his father's room to find out why.

Booth was shaving the afternoon growth off when Parker came strolling in and sat down on the bed where he could watch his father, "Dad."

"Yeah Parker?" Booth asked sparing him a glance before turning his attention back to the task at hand.

"Why do we have to dress up for dinner? We haven't had to do that for any of the other meals." Parker asked.

Booth rinsed off his razor before continuing his task, "Remember how Bones' dad had to go away when she was little?" he asked, with another glance he saw his son nod, "Well, the man who took her out of the foster system is coming tonight and Bones and all the others want to make it special because Mr. Pine took care of them all."

"So he became their dad like you are to me?" Parker asked.

Booth nodded toweling the rest of the shaving cream off his face and giving himself a look over, "That's correct, he took care of them until they were able to take care of themselves. But he's still important in their lives."

Parker nodded, "So he's like a second father to Bones. Like my friend Timmy has two dads because his mom remarried." He tilted his head in thought before meeting Booth's eyes, "If you marry Bones will she be my second mother?"

Booth stopped short and stared at his son, "What makes you think I'm going to marry Bones?"

"Because you love her." Parker said like it was that easy.

Booth moved to sit on the bed with his son, "Son, Bones' doesn't believe in marriage. Even if we were in a relationship like that she wouldn't want to get married, but she does love you very much."

"She loves you too." Parker said, "Why aren't you her boyfriend?"

"Would you be okay with that if I were?" Booth asked casually.

Parker nodded his head with so much enthusiasm that that whole bed shook with his effort, "Duh, of course, it would be perfect too, because then the three of us could spend all our time together!"

"You didn't seem so happy about me having a girlfriend when I was with Hannah." He said softly.

Parker sighed, "That's because you were always with Hannah, and it was never just you and me. And I never got to see Bones anymore."

"I'm really sorry about that buddy." Booth said, heartbroken that he made his son feel unwanted, "I didn't mean for to make you feel that way. I wanted the two most important people in my life to meet and get along."

Parker shook his head, "But what about Dr. Bones she was always important before Hannah came home with you." That statement made Booth feel worse. "And it's not like I didn't like Hannah, but she wasn't very kid friendly."

"What do you mean?" Booth asked.

"Well, she never wanted to do anything with me, when you left to go to work or a quick run to the store she acted like she didn't know what to do, and she asked me if I wanted to watch the Care Bears! I'm not a baby or a girl!" Parker grimaced, "At least Bones never asked me to do anything like that, and she talks to me like I'm not a little kid, and helps me with my homework, and makes me snacks, and lets me swim in her pool, and hang out in her lab as long as I didn't touch anything, but I could ask her anything and she never gets annoyed." Parker paused and he seemed to deflate a little, "Or at least she did all those things before you broke up." He said, and right as Booth went to comfort his son, his son seemed to perk back up, "That's why you have to be her boyfriend again!"

Booth smiled, "Well, I haven't asked her yet Parker, she might not want to be my girlfriend. But I'm glad to know that you're okay with it if it happens, and you are right. You, Bones, and grandpa are my family, and my most important people."

"I was fine with it the first time you were dating Bones." He said, before standing and smoothing his shirt down, "Does this look okay? I want to make sure that Bones' second dad thinks I look okay. I want him to like me so when I'm his grandson he'll want to do fun stuff with me like Max does."

Booth felt a lump form in his throat and pulled his son in for a hug, "He's going to love you." He said quietly before pulling away and looking down at his son, "You look very grown up."

There was a knock on the door and Parker pulled completely away moving to answer the door, "Bones!" he said excitedly seeing who was at the door. Pulling her in he grinned, "Dad said I look grown up. Do you think I look grown up? I want to make Mr. Pine like me so when he's my grandpa we can do all kinds of fun things together.

Brennan looked from Parker to Booth with a confused expression and a beet red Booth shrugged his shoulders helplessly. Brennan looked down at Parker before meeting his eyes, "Mr. Pine is going to love you Parker. You make it very easy for everyone to love you." She said quietly, "Just be yourself okay."

Parker nodded, "Okay. If you say so, you'll put in a good word for me though right?"

Brennan smiled, "Of course I will. Why don't you go down to the playroom with the rest of the children, dinner won't be for a while." Parker nodded and ran out of the room to catch up with his friends. Brennan straightened smoothing down her blue dress.

"You look beautiful Bones." Booth said moving to her side.

She smiled at him, "You, also, look very pleasing…handsome." She said before holding up her hand and he saw a bracelet hanging from her fingers, "I've tried to put it on myself, but it's difficult. Will you help?"

"Sure." Booth said taking the bracelet from her, and looping it around her offered right wrist.

"Why does Parker worry that Mr. Pine will not like him? What does he mean that he will be Mr. Pine's grandson?" Brennan asked.

Booth's fingers stilled their task and he cleared his throat. "Uh, Parker is under the impression that you and I are going to get married making Mr. Pine his grandfather." He said another blush creeping across his face as he hooked the bracelet and let his hands drop to his side.

"Why does Parker think we're going to get married?" Brennan asked confused.

"He thinks that we're going to start dating again." He said helplessly.

"Again?" She asked with a slant of her head.

Booth let out a nervous chuckle; he should have known she couldn't let it slip by, "He thinks that we used to date before…Hannah. He thinks that now we'll see that we were meant to be together."

Brennan looked at him for a long minute before glancing at the door, "Perhaps he's right." She said quietly, before looking back at Booth though unwilling to meet his eyes, "I need to go start the pasta." And with that she turned and left the room.

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Christopher and Brennan were fast at work in the kitchen when Booth walked in, "I thought that there wasn't that much to do."

Both occupants paused what they were doing to spare him a glance, "There isn't." Christopher said, "But we need to put all the food into serving dishes so it's ready for the staff to bring out."

Booth went to the sink and washed his hand, "Okay, where do you want me?" and was quickly given a task, just as they were finishing up they heard the sounds of voiced in the main lobby. Christopher and Temperance looked at each other and with a slight nod Christopher left the room.

Brennan walked over to Booth and held out her hand, "Don't be…unBoothy." She said quietly, and at his confused expression she shrugged, "Marcus knows about you Booth he knows everything from the time you came into my college classroom. If you start acting like a black sock FBI agent, I'll have to tell him your tumor came back." She said with a slight smile.

Booth nodded, "Got it, show off crazy socks." He said flashing a grin and Brennan rolled his eyes pulling him out of the room, when they reached the lobby she let go of his hand, but still stood right by him. Booth cast his eyes around the room noticing it was just the adults, one of the younger men was someone he hadn't meant before and Booth knew that the clean cut man had to be Morgan. Chloe had her arms wrapped tight around an aged woman, and Christopher was shaking the older gentleman's hand. Avery moved to stand next to Temperance, and Booth wondered if they always held back.

Once Chloe and Christopher had had their turns with the Pines, Mr. Pine turned his gaze straight to Brennan like he had a Temperance-radar. Making the short walk over to her gave her a nod, before turning his attention to Avery, "I saw reports on the last quarter, good job keeping the Wint House in business. I wasn't sure it was the best course of action but your proved me wrong." He said before pulling Avery in for an awkward hug. When he pulled away he turned his attention back to Brennan, "Hey there Sweetie." He said with a smile and a twinkle in his eye, and Brennan practically threw herself in him open arms.

"Hello Marcus." She said softly before pulling away, and turning to look at Booth, "This is…"

"The Special Agent." Marcus finished for her, and Booth once again found himself under the intense glaze of someone else who had Brennan's best interests in mind. As Marcus looked him over, Booth wondered if he had read the special file that Avery kept in his desk drawer. "It's good to meet you Seeley Booth."

Booth cleared his throat, "It's good to meet you too Mr. Pine. Uh. Call me Booth." He said and cringed, "I mean, not that I don't…I just don't." Brennan stepped in, "What he means to say is that he doesn't like to be called by his first name, so if you don't mind Booth will do." She said with a smile before turning to Booth with a look that said '_what did I just tell you'_.

Marcus nodded, "Thanks for the warning." He said to Booth with a smile, "But I already knew that you didn't like your first name. We Pines pride ourselves on knowing such trivial information. Now, Christopher said something about a mini Booth running around?"

Booth nodded, "My son Parker, I believe he and the other children are still down in the playroom."

Marcus nodded turning to Morgan, "Will you have someone go fetch the children, I heard Tempe and Chris prepared dinner without it ending on the ceiling and I'm more than a little bit hungry."

Morgan went off to get the children while the rest of the group made their way into the dining room, "So tell me Booth." Marcus said once they were all seated, "How are you enjoying you visit to Maine?"

"It's very beautiful out here." He replied, "Thank you for allowing me and my son to join Bones in her vacation."

Marcus waved his hands, "Oh posh. No one ever tells Temperance what she can and cannot do. Besides whom would I be to tell her that she couldn't have her best friend come?" Marcus leaned forward, "Besides I've been asking to meet the man who dug her out of her car." He said referring to the gravedigger incident.

Booth sat up a little straighter, "Well, I mean, I was there but if it wasn't for the rest of the team…"

Marcus nodded, sensing that the ex-soldier couldn't bring himself to finish that particular train of thought. "Be that as it may, you also checked yourself out of a hospital and went to her aid, which ranks high in my book."

"Marcus stop harassing Booth." Brennan said before tilting her head, "Which reminds me; when Parker gets up here, don't go into your little tough guy act. Parker wants very much for you to like him."

Marcus' eyes widened, "Me? He doesn't even know me."

Brennan shrugged, "He seems to think that your opinion matters."

"Are you saying it doesn't?" Marcus asked seriously, but there was a twinkle in his eyes.

A twinkle Brennan didn't apparently pick up on and her face flushed red, "No. Of course it does, I simply mean that…" she huffed, "You know what I mean, just…be nice to Parker."

Marcus' eyes filled with humor, "When am I ever not nice?"

"The Broken Glass Door Incident of 1994." Christopher said casually, taking a sip of his tea.

"The Girl Scout Annihilation." Chloe added with a grin and a salute to Marcus with her glass of tea.

"The Canine Dig." Brennan supplied.

"The Autographed Football of '87 Burial." They said all together, and when Christopher opened his mouth to presumably add another occasion Marcus held up his hand laughing, "Okay, okay. You've all made you points, now shut up before the children get here and hear that I've cancelled dessert due to the smart mouths of the adults in the room."

"Hey now." Booth said drawing attention his way, "I don't see why you have to punish everyone just because these three are troublemakers."

Marcus nodded, "I suppose you're right, I wouldn't be fair to deny the children their right to dessert when I haven't heard one bad word from _them_."

"I wasn't talking about them." Booth said with a mock huff, "I was talking about me, I was in there helping Bones make those pies and if I get denied my cut, someone's waking up a lot worse than with a syrup surprise. I'm FBI I know people."

Marcus' eyebrows shot up and he looked to his wife, "Abigail am I forgetting about a syrup incident?"

The older woman shook her head, "I would believe this must be a new development."

Christopher and Brennan turned glares unto the FBI agent, "Thanks Booth." They said like pouting children.

"I woke up this morning completely covered in syrup." Chloe volunteered happily, like any child who got to tell on someone else, "Of course, they were nice enough to remove my personal belongings…the room however, I fear must be redecorated…there will be no saving it."

Abigail rolled her eyes, "Tragic. How many rooms does that make it now that one of you four have ruined."

"I beg your pardon?" Avery asked affronted that he would be put in a group with the hooligans he called his siblings.

Abigail turned an accusing eye onto him, "Don't think I haven't forgotten that time you were a teen." And Avery's face turned beet red causing the other occupants of the room to laugh.

Instead of getting a rebuttal, conversation seemed to stop as the children came in, everyone but Parker ran to the Pines offering hugs and welcomes. Parker, unsure of what to do moved to sit in the empty seat on his father's side of the table, which happened to be next to Bones, but awkwardly for him, also next to Marcus.

When the kids settled down, Marcus stood, "I'd like to thank everyone for making time to come out here. I know that the rest of the week will prove to be eventful, and hope to spend time with each and every one of you. Now, please bow your heads and close your eyes so we may bless the food."

Booth watched with mild shock as everyone did as told, even Brennan who shared a quick look with Avery before honoring Marcus' wishes. As Booth did the same he wondered if Avery also believed that there was no higher power.

With the blessings said conversations resumed around the table and the staff brought out the food that Brennan prepared. As everyone filled their plates Marcus turned to the youngest Booth, "Hello there, son, I'm Marcus." He said politely.

Parker grinned, "You're Dr. Bones' second father right? I'm Parker!" he said, "It's nice to meet you."

Marcus nodded very serious, "That I am her second father." He squinted his eyes in suspicion leaning closer to the young boy, "Why? Has she done something she needs to be grounded for?"

Parker sat up straighter in his chair eyes wide shaking his head, "Oh no sir. Dr. Bones never does anything bad." He said before wrinkling his brow, "You should tell her not to work so hard though, sometimes she forgets to eat…but it's okay because my dad usually comes and drags her out of the lab."

The partners looked up from their plates with wide eyes and red faces.

"I don't always forget to eat." Brennan said at the same time Booth replied with, "I don't _drag_ her."

Marcus laughed a deep, rich belly laugh, "Seems to me I'm getting all the good dirt from this young man here."

Parker beamed at the compliment even as he shook his head, "If you want the good dirt you'd have to talk to Dr. Hodgins." Glancing at his father and Bones expression he shrugged, "What? Dr. Hodgins is the bug and slime guy, he deals with the dirt."

Marcus grinned, "That sounds very interesting, I'll have to look him up sometime." He replied, though Booth had a feeling that Marcus knew exactly who Jack Hodgins was, and everyone else in the Jeffersonian Institute that Dr. Temperance Brennan may or may not come into contact with.

Dinner went off without a any major occurrences, everyone sharing stories that had happened so far, Christopher pouting as everyone laughed hearing Brennan's recurrence of the lobster attack including a side story of a candy aisle fight.

When dinner was over it was decided that they would go to the Pirate's Cove Adventure Mini Golf, everyone complaining that they had eaten too much and needed to work it off, that and the kids would have fun and also tire them out.

The mini golf had been a fun event for everyone. The children taking delight in seeing the full-scale pirate ship, and the course made to look like it belonged in the days of the pirates. They got to play golf through mountain caves, over foot bridges and under waterfalls. When they were all down they were all tired but laughing having spent a good time just acting like a big happy family.

They returned to the White Pine and the adults broke up to take their children off to bed, Parker grabbed Bones' hand on his way by so she went along with the Booth boys. "Will you come listen to the story tonight?" Parker asked as they walked up the stairs after saying goodnight to everyone downstairs.

Brennan nodded, "I would love to Parker." She said and paused in the doorway of the boy's temporary bedroom, "I will just go to my room for a minute and check my email while you get ready for bed, and when you're ready, just holler and I will come in." she said before turning on her heel and going to her own room.

True to her word, she opened up her laptop and clicked onto the icon for her email. There were a few offers to go on digs, an email from her publisher, but no emails from Cam or anyone at the lab asking for help. There was one from Angela, however, saying that she was sorry for being cross with her. Wondering if she was spending her week off on a dig somewhere, and to please call her to let her know she was okay.

"Boooooooooonnnnnnnneees"

Brennan smiled, closing the laptop making a mental note to call Angela in the morning, "Coming." She replied, before going into the young boy's room to listen to Booth tell another story, this time one about turtles who could talk and apparently were good at karate.

Brennan refrained from denying the possibility of any of the story from actually happening.

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Downstairs once the other children were tucked into the bed Chloe went to the library where she met up with Marcus, Abigail, Christopher and Avery, pouring herself a drink she took a seat on the couch next to Avery.

"Shall we discuss Temperance and Booth?" Marcus asked with a curious smile as he looked at his present family members.

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Mwhahaha. That's right. Done with chapter. You'll just have to wait if you want to know what they talk about. Thanks for all the reviewing, following, and favorites! I love hearing from you!  
Cheers!**


	9. The Family that Meddles Together

**I should say now, that I was never a fan of Hannah, even when she was mildly likeable, so I'm a little sorry that I took out my hate on her in this chapter.  
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_"Shall we discuss Temperance and Booth?" Marcus asked with a curious smile as he looked at his present family members._

With Temperance upstairs with her partner and his son, the rest of the group gathered in the library for a night cap and a little chat.

"Well, I think that they personally belong together, have you seen some of the looks they give each other?" Chloe asked, and then with a dreamy sigh, "Or the looks that he gives her? He doesn't even care if she sees them or not, it's like the man is begging for her just to give him a chance."

"That's because he is." Avery said with a clenched jaw, "I'm not sure I'm completely sold on the idea of them getting together. He told her last year that he wanted to give them a chance, and when she said she couldn't be what he wanted her to be he just gave up and decided to move on without a fight. A true man in love doesn't do that."

"He did what?" Chloe and Christopher said shocked that someone they were coming to really like would do something like that to someone they considered family.

Abigail, the normally quiet one in the group shook her head, "Avery, darling, first off you need to stop having everyone followed. Secondly, did you ever think that he had his pride hurt and his heart crushed? Would you hound after a girl if she told you she didn't want a relationship with you?"

Avery glowered, "It's not the same, she didn't say she didn't want him, she said she couldn't change. He could have fought for her instead of just moving on so quickly, and then when they take a year apart from each other he comes back with that…that…reporter." Avery growls out, "Not only does he bring her back and parade her in front of our sister's face…he didn't even know that she was there for more than just him." Avery spat out with disgust.

"What do you mean?" Marcus asked leaning forward in his chair.

"Hannah Burley is a parasite." Avery said, "Booth didn't even know what was going on right under his nose. If he hadn't had broken up with her when he did causing her to go back to whatever sinkhole she came from, I would have intervened."

"You can't fix everyone's problems." Marcus chided softly, "What do you mean? What was she doing?"

"She wants to be on top of her profession, something that I of all people can understand." Avery said, to the small office like setting of the library where his desk was, and pulling out a file identical to the one he had when talking to Booth. Bringing it over he slid back into his seat, "Normally I wouldn't have any problems with a little friendly fire. You don't get ahead in life if you are afraid to make a few enemies."

"But it's when those enemies are my sister that I frown upon." He flipped the first page of the file. "Even worse, she was coming after Temperance because she was jealous of the relationship she shared with Agent Booth. Hannah had come to the states to work on some scoop about congress not just because of her feelings, be what they were, for Booth. But once seeing how the partners interacted with each other she turned her attention into digging into our Temperance's life. She went deep too, I'm still trying to track down some of her sources, but her facts are mostly all accurate."

"Like what?" Marcus asked growing annoyed with this woman he'd never met.

"Let's just put it this way." Avery said flipping a to a page in his file, "She knew that Temperance had to join that cooking class the time you caught her after she dug up Christopher's childhood dog and examined it's remains…and instead of it coming across as her being interested in the field she's in today…well, it wasn't in Tempe's best light." He said crossly. "This Burley knew things that she had no business knowing, and she was coming after Brennan to what? Take out the competition for a man?"

Chloe stood and shook her head, "So she's catty, are you saying that she just left? Didn't you say that Booth broke up with her? What if she still decided to come after Temperance…to see if she could win him back or simply because she blames her for the relationship ending?"

Avery shook his head, "No, when Booth broke up with her, he did tell her that it was because he couldn't be what she wanted him to be. But I had it fixed so that she won't be anywhere near our sister. If I have to keep watch on this Burley and make sure her career moves in a good direction to keep her away I will, but I think once she leeches on to another she'll forget all about our girl."

Abigail smiled, "That's all very good, but didn't you say you hadn't intervened?"

Avery returned her smile, "I only helped get her far away once Booth had ended the relationship. But had she started the process of turning her information into any type of publishable material, I would have taken her down. I would have dragged her name so far into the mud that Temperance would have to scrub her bones clean."

"Temperance would have hated that." Marcus said.

"I know." Avery said raising his head, "But she would have gotten over it…eventually. I look out for this family any way that I can. If it wasn't for you and Abigail taking us all in when we had no place to go…" he trailed off, "Temperance and I would have never made it out of that foster care. If you hadn't come in I don't know if we would be here today, much less be in our professions."

Marcus nodded, "I have no doubt that you'd all find your way. Now that the Burley threat had been taken care of…and I assume the information on Tempe destroyed…" At Avery's nod he continued, "We need to discuss this Dr. Lance Sweets, something that we had discussed in the past, but now hearing that Booth is also aware of the topic, I believe that a little payback is in order?"

"Reasonable payback, Temperance views him as her and Booth's 'baby duck' or something." Christopher said with air quotes, "She would probably come after us like a mother bear if we did anything to traumatizing to the shrink."

Marcus smiled a wicked smile, "So we all work to compile a list of things to do to the shrink and we go to Booth with it."

Chloe shook her head, "No. If anything, he will not want to do anything that Temperance would disapprove of. If he thinks that she wouldn't approve then he'll tell us no, and if we still do it…"

"Our future brother-in-law won't be happy with us?" Christopher replied, "Which we never finished that topic either, do we or do we not force those two into a closet until they throw themselves at each other?"

Chloe laughed, "I don't think we'll have to go that route, we just need to push them together, I don't think it should be too hard. Parker loves the idea of them together; he thought that they were already dating until they both split for opposite sides of the world." Chloe grinned, "And he told me not to call her Bones, he's so protective of her."

Christopher nodded, "When I met the kid, he told me that I wasn't allowed to call her that either, that it was just something him and Booth did." He chuckled, "And after I called her Doctor Dead he made me apologize for being demeaning and mean. That kid has a bad case of Temperance Love."

Chloe laughed, "I think it's adorable, in fact it might be nice to include our future nephew in our plans if we decide to move forward with this. However has any one thought of what it's going to be like? He's FBI he's going to know we are up to something, and she knows us well enough to know that we are meddling even if she doesn't get it completely since she's…socially awkward.

"Did you hear Elsie rave about the hug Tempe gave her when she first arrived though? I'll say one thing that Booth has helped a lot with bringing Temperance into the world of sociably acceptable, not that she was bad before, just now…she can be in public without any of us worrying that she'll be looked down upon." Christopher said, "Then again, I got taken out by a lobster so what do I know."

That caused the group to laugh, "So are we giving them the push they need or not?" Marcus asked, and all everyone looked at each other before all eyes settling on Avery.

The young man met everyone's eyes and heaved a great sigh, "Alright. I guess I'll give him the benefit of doubt, he's been nothing but a love sick fool when he got here, but if he gives up on her, then I'm giving each of you an I-told-you-so lecture and serious look of disproval."

"Do we have any ideas to push them together?" Marcus asked.

"I might have a few…" Chloe grinned leaning forward, causing the others in the room to lean in to.

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When the story was over, both adults whispered 'goodnights' before leaving the room and closing the door behind them, pausing between their rooms neither of them wanted the night to end. "Marcus and Abigail sleep in this wing." Brennan said softly pointing towards one of the rooms by the stairs. "They stay in the room close to the stairs, in case you go in search of snacks in the middle of the night, be aware that's it's nearly impossible to sneak past that room in the dark. And the third step from the top squeaks." She said with a small smile.

"That's good to know." He said with a grin, "Are you going back downstairs?"

Brennan shook her head, "I doubt anyone will stay up much longer if they haven't already turned in for the night. Marcus and Abigail traveled most of the day, flying in from out of the country. Christopher will probably go to sleep soon, his face showed signs of discomfort while we were golfing, I'm sure he'll take something for the pain and call it a night." She shrugged, "Avery will probably spend a little more time working, and its best not to disturb him when he's working." She grimaced, "That lecture is almost as bad as his 'on the phone' lecture."

Booth nodded, "Are you going to turn in then or work on your novel?"

She shrugged, "I was going to work on a chapter or two, I'm behind on what I said I would get done with month."

Booth nodded, "What if you change into your sleepwear, grab your laptop and come over to my room. You can write about Andy and Kathy, and I can watch T.V."

Brennan thought about it for a minute before nodding, "That sounds enjoyable. I wouldn't mind having some background noise…you aren't going to watch sports though are you? I find that you're annoyingly loud when your sports team isn't doing good." She frowned.

Booth shook his head, "You only witnessed me watching the Steelers lose, and they aren't supposed to do that. But you're in luck, it's not football season, and even if it were it's too late for a game to be on and the wrong night."

Brennan shrugged as if to say 'whatever' and pushed open the door to her room, "Then I shall prepare for bed and meet you in your room, let's say…fifteen minutes?"

Booth nodded, "Sounds good. Don't suppose there is any way we can get some contraband snacks up here?"

"Why would you need illegal imports?" she asked.

Booth rolled his eyes, "I mean can we sneak some snack upstairs for our enjoyment?"

Brennan shook her head, "I don't see why you have to sneak food up the kitchen is open for anyone to grab anything if they want." She shrugged, "If you want to go on an incursion to get snacks, be my guest. I'm going to grab a quick shower."

"Incursion?" Booth asked.

"Night raid." She replied entering her room and closing the door behind her.

Booth rolled his eyes before going into his room and changing into a pair of cotton pants and an old t-shirt so he was dressed in case Bones came back before him. Once dressed he made his way down the stairs stopping in the main lobby when he heard talking.

_"…I'm just saying that Temperance wouldn't be happy if we dug a deep hole and shoved him in. Not only would it bring up bad memories of being buried, it's a stupid plan." Chloe's disembodied voice came softly from the library._

Who were they talking about putting into a hole?

_"Okay so we don't put that on our list." Christopher's voice replied with a pout._

_"I thought we weren't making a list because we aren't going to tell Booth." An older woman replied and Booth realized it was Abigail, and he wondered what they weren't going to tell him._

_"We still need to make a list of reasonable ideas so that __**we**__ can at least decide." Marcus joined the discussion. "I think the idea of drugging him works."_

'I hope they aren't talking about me." Booth thought and decided that he'd let them know he was on to them one way or another. Stepping into the room he glowered, "I don't think drugging anyone is the answer."

The group jumped and turned to the source of their disturbance, "Beats digging a hole." Chloe shot back.

"Hey!" Christopher said stubbornly holding onto his idea.

"I'm just curious about this list you're all making. I want the why and the who." He said in his no-nonsense FBI tone.

They all looked at each other before Christopher shrugged and cleared his throat, "We're…taking matters into our own hands…and…we feel like pulling the mother of all pranks on Dr. Sweets."

Booth's jaw dropped as he looked from one family member to another. Shaking his head he chuckled, "Bones isn't going to like that, she actually likes the kid…and so do I."

Marcus nodded, "I know, that's why we're handling it."

Booth shook his head, "I have a feeling Christopher's love of pranking is in his genes." He said, "I'm in."

"You're in?" Christopher raised an eyebrow even as his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"I'm in." Booth confirmed, "But I want that list before you do anything, not only because he works for the FBI, he's also…kind of…my friend, and Bones friend. Our baby duck." He said, "I want the list and then Bones and I will go over it."

"Do you really have to tell her?" Christopher asked.

Booth nodded instantly, "Bones and I are the center, and there are no more secrets between us."

"So you told her about Hannah?" Avery asked, "That you ended the relationship because of her?"

Booth frowned, "Okay, we have one secret…but only because I don't want to ruin her vacation, but I will tell her, you were right about her knowing. But I also know if I tell her now, she'll feel terrible thinking that I'm unhappy Hannah and I are over and it's her fault. She'll feel guilty the rest of the time she is here. I want her to have a good time with all of you so I'll wait."

"Sounds agreeable…Booger." Avery said with a small smile, and Booth felt like he passed some sort of test.

"Just…make sure you get the list to me. I'm serious, I know you all want to extract some sort of revenge for Bones' feelings being played with." He said, "But I feel like this is something Bones and I can take care of too, Sweets messed with our partnership."

"And our sister." Chloe shot back.

"Which is why I'm willing to take your suggestions under consideration. But Bones and I get final say because it's our revenge first, Sweets needs to know from us that it's not okay to do what he did, even if Brennan thinks the statue of limitations is up. I'm the FBI and I'll say when they're up." He said with a cocky smile, "And I'm glad that you want to help out, just don't leave out the victims."

Marcus nodded, "I find that to be quite acceptable. You are right; this should be between you, Temperance and the young doctor. We are glad that you are willing to humor us, though, by letting us join in."

Booth nodded, "No problem, families have to stick together." He looked towards the door, "I'm supposed to be…" he paused rubbing the back of his neck, "Not that Bones and I are trying to exclude you, but we thought you would all be in bed."

They gang looked at each other and a silent message passed between them. Chloe jumped up, "We are. I'm going to go up and rescue some clothes and move into different room."

"I need to get to bed and take something for my hand" Christopher also stood.

Booth took the hint, and smiled, "Have a good night everyone." He said turning and leaving the room. He went to the kitchen and grabbed an empty mixing bowl filling it with snack-like items before making his way back to him room. Surprised that even though he stopped to talk to Bones' family he still beat her back to the room setting the mixing bowl on one of the end tables he set a diet cola on one side and a coke on the other.

He paused at the knock on the door briefly wondering if it was one of the 'gang' with their list, even though when he passed the library on his way back there had been no light under the door. "Come in." he called softly mindful of his son in the room down the hall.

Brennan entered the room closing the door behind her. Her hair was wet and pulled up in a messy style, and she had on cotton shorts and a t-shirt. Holding her laptop she took the empty seat on the couch. "What are we watching tonight?" she asked mock serious as she opened her laptop and started it up.

Booth shrugged, "I'm thinking of putting _Australia_ on, good movie, has Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman…and I don't know why I'm telling you that because you don't know who they are do you?" she shook her head and he laughed, "It's a movie set around the time of WWII, it's a pretty good story." He paused, "What's going on in the new novel?"

It was Bones' turn to shrug, "You know I don't like giving up my plot details before its ready." She bit her lip, "But if you must know, Andy and Kathy were lost and Andy won't ask for directions." She face turning a slight shade of pink. "But now they have made back to the lab and hour later than they had planned, and Kathy is looking over the remains while Andy goes over the information they collected from visiting the suspect, which is annoying Katy because she's trying to work." She said with a smile.

Booth nodded flicking on his movie, "I'll just let you type then or both Andy and I will be in the doghouse."

Booth made it about ten minutes into the movie before Brennan moved closer to him, "What she doing?" Brennan asked, and Booth looked over to see though she had the laptop in her hand she was looking at the screen. Fifteen minutes later the laptop laid on the couch, Brennan sat in the middle of the couch between the laptop and him with a bag of dried fruit watching the movie intently. An hour and a half later the dried fruits bag had joined a chip bag on the floor and both partners were asleep on the couch, movie credits playing in the background.

**BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB**

Booth woke first, the morning light streaming into his window and across his face. With a groan he tried to sit up, but realized he couldn't because there was a weight on his left side. Cracking open an eye he caught sight of long brunette hair, causing both eyes to fully open and realize that he and Bones had fallen asleep on the couch last night. Bone's was curled tightly into his side; he smiled and let her sleep peacefully for a few more minutes before waking her. "Hey Bones."

"Mur?"

Booth chuckled and Brennan protested the movement of her live bed, "Come on Bones, time get with the rising and the shining."

"No."

"Bonessssssss." Booth said, using his free hand to move the hair out of her face, "Come on, time for eggs and bacon."

"Don't eat meat."

"Well I do, and you're currently keeping me from my delicious meal." He said with another laugh.

Brennan let out a sound that Booth likened to a hissing noise, "I hope Elsie forgot to make it."

This caused a belly laugh from Booth and Brennan pulled away glaring at him for his laughter causing her to fully wake, "I missed the end of the movie." She said, and then on an almost afterthought, "Good Morning Booth."

"Morning Bones." He said with a smile, "We can see if the movie is on tonight and watch the end, or we can rent it when we get home, it's a pretty good movie." He said moving to stand and stretching the night's sleep out of his body, when he turned to Bones she was looking at him with a worried expression. "What?"

"It's bad for your back to sleep on the couch all night." She said and he could hear a thread of guilt in her voice, "Do you need me to adjust it for you."

His back fine, he almost thought about telling her yes anyway, "Nah, backs fine Bones, only suffers when I sleep on my own couch." He said with a grin, "Come on, time to get dressed, if I miss my bacon…"

"If you miss you're bacon you know someone?" She asked crossing her arms, "When I said that you told me the FBI didn't work that way, you're saying that it's different for bacon?"

"Everything is different for bacon." He grinned.

Brennan rolled her eyes, but stood, "I will see you down at breakfast." She said before leaving the room.

**BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB**

After taking a quick shower Booth arrived downstairs to the breakfast room to find everyone already sitting except for Christopher and Brennan, "Anyone seen Bones?" he asked casually taking a seat next to Parker.

Marcus shrugged, "I saw her go running down the stairs at a neck breaking speed a little bit ago."

"About ten minutes ago?" Chloe asked, at Marcus' nod she shrugged, "She went flying into Christopher's room shortly after that then."

"Well, which one of you did something that will probably require me to replace something?" Marcus asked looking around the room.

As everyone shook their heads no one claiming anything Brennan and Christopher entered the room taking their seats and mumbling mornings.

"And what have the two of you perfect angels been up too?" Marcus asked looking between the two.

Christopher tried his best to look offended, "What makes you think that we have to be up to something to spend a little quality time together?" he asked spooning eggs onto his plate. "Tempe and I never see each other, and we just wanted to…talk."

"Right." Tempe said after taking a long drink of her coffee, "Talk."

Marcus looked between the two narrowing his eyes, "I'll believe that you two were innocently talking just as soon as I believe that pigs can fly."

"Pigs can't fly." Brennan and Parker said together before smiling at each other across Booth.

Marcus nodded, "Exactly."

"I don't know what that means." Brennan squinted her eyes.

"He's saying that he doesn't believe that you and Christopher were just talking." Booth supplied, "He smells a rat."

Brennan jumped up in her seat, "Well don't just sit there find it! Rats can carry dozens of diseases, one of them being the Bubonic Plague! Do you know what happens when you contract the Bu-"

"Bones. Idiom." Booth said reaching out a hand to help her off the chair."

"Oh." She said, taking his hand and lowering herself back into a seated position on the chair, "Well that's a stupid idiom, who wants to smell a rat?"

"I don't know Bones." He smiled softly, "I certainly don't."

"I would hope not." She said reaching over to grab the fruit salad, "What are the plans for the day?"

The gang all looked around, "I'm not sure anyone has made any plans." Chloe said, "Do you have anything in mind?"

"We could tour the Atlantic Brewing Company, the adults can do wine and beer, kids soda." Temperance suggested, stabbing a grape with her fork.

"That sounds like fun." Christopher said, "But, I've actually told my friend Elizabeth that I would meet her for lunch today, would it angry you guys if I did that instead of a family outing?" Everyone shook their heads, "Good. Good, but you all have fun and I'll see you later this evening maybe we can do something then."

"I think the brewing thing has potential, but I was thinking I could take the kids up to the Bass Harbor lighthouse, tell them all about the good ol' days." Marcus said, "But you should go on the brewery thing take Booth, you guys need to relax after catching all those murderers and what not."

Booth and Brennan shared a glance before shrugging, "Sounds good to me." Booth said turning to Parker, "Do you want to go with us?" Since both partners had their head turned to the young Booth neither noticed Marcus nor Chloe shaking their heads frantically in a 'no' motion.

Parker suppressed a grin, "No. I think the lighthouse would be fun, they're used to keep boats from crashing into the land when there is fog or storms." Parker grinned.

"Are you sure Bud?" Booth asked, thinking back to their conversation yesterday about not getting to spend time together.

Parker nodded, "I'm sure, take Dr. Bones to the tasting thing." He looked at Brennan, "Is that okay with you if I go with the other kids?"

Brennan smiled, "Of course Parker."

"Good it's all settled, Chloe and I will take the children to the lighthouse and then ice cream afterwards, Christopher will be visiting old friends, Temperance and Booth will be coming home in a cab singing about 'wee little men in the wee little lands singing wee little tunes about wee bumblebees'" Marcus said, "Abby?"

Abigail looked up from her plate, "Oh, I'm going to stay home and visit with Elsie, it was a long trip yesterday, and I'm afraid I'm worn out. Avery will be here to keep me company as well. I'm making sure to pull him away from his computer for just a little while."

Marcus nodded, "I guess we better eat up, seems we all have grand adventures for the day."

Booth enjoyed the chatter as they ate before noticing that Brennan had started humming before making a frustrated sound, "Great now the wee men song is in my head." She huffed.

**BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB**

Booth and Temperance were the first ones to depart having made an early reservation lucky that there had been a cancelation. Marcus watched them pull out of the drive before turning to look at the remaining group, "Okay children, before we go there are a few things the grownups have to do to get ready. Why don't you all go down to the playroom and challenge each other to one of those racing games or something."

As the kids started to file out, Chloe laid a hand on Parker's shoulder, "Hold on Parker, there's something that we want to talk to you about."

"Am I in trouble?" Parker asked shyly.

Marcus gave a soft laugh, "Oh no, boy, we just have a few questions for you, and I'm willing to bet that you have some good answers for us." He knelt down on one knee to be more level, "How would you feel about your dad and Dr. Brennan getting together?"

**BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB**

**And now I want wine. Love the reviews! Any activities you'd like to see Booth and Bones do? I've got wine tasting and a carriage ride coming up. And a little revenge prank on Booth. **


	10. Guilty Pleasures

**Guess what?!...Yeah, I don't know either. I don't own them; I just play around with them.  
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Booth pulled onto the highway taking the directions as the GPS gave them, "So this brewery thing, are we going to get slouched?"

Brennan turned her attention from the scenery outside her window, "I think if that is your intention then we should have taken a cab." She said with a small smile, "I hear they have excellent BBQ, you should be in heaven there."

Booth grinned, "That does sound like my kind of place. But we could eat lunch anywhere; I know it isn't your heaven to be surrounded by cooking meat."

Brennan shrugged, "I do not mind, I just don't want to eat it, I can get a salad or something, it sounds like something to not pass up. They have a sixteen foot wood-fired smoker where they cook sausages, ribs, chicken, and award-winning pulled pork. I hear their sides aren't bad either. I think we'd be remiss if we didn't go."

Booth's grin widened, "Well we wouldn't want to be remiss." He chuckled, "So how about we take the tour of the brewery so we can see how the beer is made, and you can tell me all the ins and outs and how you disagree with what they are doing."

"Booth I'm not a zymologist I wouldn't know the first-"

"Zymologist?" Booth asked interrupting her.

"Zymologist is chemist who studies Zymology or zymurgy, which is the study of fermentation." She clarified, "I wouldn't know what the ins or the outs were."

Booth rolled his eyes, "You really do know everything do you?" he asked, but there was no malice to his words, "Okay, so we'll take the tour and we'll both learn the ins and outs of the brewery in case we decide to retire and start our own place. Then we should probably eat because if this is some of the best BBQ then I'd like to be a hundred percent sober to enjoy and remember it. Then we can do the tasting, it's too bad that if we like the stuff we can't bring some home with us."

"Of course we can, even if they don't allow it at the airport we could always ship it home." Brennan said matter-of-factly. "I think your plan of action sounds very reasonable, plus with our stomachs full it will slow the absorption of the alcohol. Though many people think that it will help or stop you from getting drunk, they are incorrect; it only slows the process by a little."

Booth grinned sometimes he loved Bones' little fact rants…when she wasn't trying to prove him wrong, usually in front of someone. "I'm glad you agree."

Brennan smiled at him before turning to look out the window again, they road in a comfortable peace for a few miles before she broke the silence, "I find that I'm a little torn."

Booth fought back a cringe wondering what she was talking about but tried to make light, "You want to try the BBQ?"

Brennan looked at him confused about to remind him that she was a vegetarian when it hit her that he was joking, "No. I find that I'm torn between feeling a certain way, and feeling guilty about it."

Uh-oh, "Okay, Well I'm here to help you understand your feelings so hit me with it." He said gripping the steering wheel, 'please don't let her say she doesn't want to spend the day alone with me.'

"Hit you with what?" she asked looking around the front of the Audi, "Why would I hit you with something?"

Booth raised his eyebrow sparing her a glancing, "Just tell me what you're torn about Bones."

Brennan looked at him for a few seconds, "I find that, as irrational and mean-thinking that it is, I'm glad that you and Parker couldn't go on your trip." She said watching him for his reaction, but his face was blank as he watched the road ahead of him "Is that wrong of me to feel that way?"

Booth kept his eyes trained on the road ahead, "Depends on why you think that, I guess, I'm going to need a little more information before I can tell you what I think that you feel."

Brennan frowned, "I guess." She paused, "I'm happy that you're trip was canceled because you ended coming with me. I find that, while, I would have enjoyed myself with just my family, that I'm…extra enjoying…myself with you and Parker here."

Booth looked at her, looked back to the road, and sighed, "Bones." He paused, "there's no need to feel guilty, I'm glad that our trip got cancelled, I'm glad that you invited us to tag along. I think we needed this so we could get back to us, and I'm having a great time."

If Booth would have told her how her smile lit up the car she would have said it was scientifically impossible so her refrained, but oh how he loved seeing her more happy then she had looked in a long time. "I think you would have an even better time if you would try the BBQ."

Brennan shook her head with a laugh, "I don't need to eat the BBQ to release endorphins, and in fact you would release more endorphins if you'd eat some nuts or berries."

Booth rolled his eyes, "I'll just stick to the ribs and the beer…thanks."

The car filled with laugher.

**BBBBBBBBBBBBBBB**

_"How would you feel about your dad and Dr. Brennan getting together?"_

Parker's eyes widened, "What do you mean?" he asked looking from one adult to the other, "Are they?"

Chloe shook her head, "Not that we know of Parker" when the smile dropped from his face she felt the need to continue, "but we want to help them go in that direction with a nice little push."

"They need a nice shove." Parker said putting his hands on his hips, "What do you plan to do? Neither of them likes it when you mess with the center."

"The center?" Marcus asked.

Parker shrugged, "I don't know, they are always talking about the center and holding it somewhere."

Marcus and Chloe shared a look and laughed, curious as to what the partners could be talking about, "Well," Marcus continued, "We don't plan to mess with the center; we just want to help them."

Parker nodded, "I think that would be okay."

Chloe grinned, "I'm glad you think so, do you have any ideas on how we can get them together? You see them a lot more than we do so we thought we'd come to your for some expert advice."

Parker beamed at the compliment, "They like to go out to dinner together a lot…well…before they broke up and stopped going out together."

Chloe nodded, "I see, well, we sent them off together this morning, but we'll see what we can come up with…and let you know so you can tell us if you think it will help or not."

Parker nodded, "I guess that will be okay." He grinned, "Dad doesn't like clowns so don't send them to the circus or anything, and Dr. Bones doesn't like snakes so it wouldn't be very nice to send her where she would have to be near them."

Chloe nodded her head looking serious, "You're right, it wouldn't be right to do anything like that, thank you for letting us know, we'll be sure to keep them away from both snakes and clowns."

Parker gave a sharp nod of his head, "Good." He looked between the two adults once more, "Can I go play now?"

**BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB**

Booth listened at the tour guide talked them through the main brewing processes: Fermenting, conditioning, filtering and filing. When they arrived at the brewery Booth had thought that the tour would have been boring, but the young man giving the tour had added the right mixture of humor and information to keep everyone's attention. Bones was listening looking around the room with interest, but when they got to the wine barrels Booth's silent chuckles caught her attention, "What?"

Booth shook his head, "I was just thinking…remember the purple smurf?"

Brennan turned with a blank stare on her face, "You mean the…" she glanced around, "Booth!" she said and started to laugh, "It's not funny. It's not funny!"

Other couples and families on the tour turned to watch the happy couple laughing, leaning on each other for support, "If it's not funny…" Booth paused letting out a laugh, "then why are we laughing?"

Brennan took a deep breath as a few more un-Brennan-like giggles escaped, "Because, it's a little funny. Not the whole…you know, but the purple smurf…it is funny because I get it now."

Booth nodded, surprised she didn't just come out and mention the last time that they had been somewhere where there was a wine barrel there had been a dead wine critic inside, "You're right, the…critic wasn't funny, but if you can't smile in our line of work…"

Brennan nodded, "Right." They grinned at each other.

When the tour ended they moved on to the BBQ lunch chatting about nothing and everything. Brennan enjoying the vegetarian parts of the meal, Booth sampling all of the meats, Booth was digging into a nice juicy rib when he noticed that Brennan was staring at the table in deep thought with a frown on her face, "Bones?" he said to get her attention, half expecting her to start ranting about the quality of the table or something like that.

She looked up at him with such a look of anguish that it nearly broke his heart, but it was gone in an instant replaced with a forced smile, "Yes Booth how is your unhealthy lunch."

"It's great, what's wrong?" he asked.

She shook her head, "I'm having a good time."

It's was Booth's turn to shake his head, "It doesn't look like it, you were having some pretty heavy thoughts over there."

Brennan looked down at the table with a sigh, "I was just thinking, you know, the critic…when we were…you saw that, uh, Family Guy person. I was just thinking, I was just thinking about how I almost lost you."

Booth's rib dropped to his plate forgotten instantly as he reached over to take her hand, "Hey, no thoughts like that, I'm here, I didn't go anywhere. I'm right here, eating some of the best BBQ with one of my favorite people in the world, in one of the most beautiful places in the United States." He looked her directly in the eyes, "I'm here."

Brennan nodded, "I know. I know. I'm sorry. I just, I'm just over thinking." She shook her head, "Sorry."

Booth shrugged, "its okay, do you want to get out of here?" he asked, worried about her unhappiness.

"What? No, I'm having a good time Booth, just a minor hump in the road." She said waving her free hand in the air in an act of dismissal.

Booth looked at her blankly for a second before a small smile appeared on his face, "Bump. Bump in the road, Bones." He looked at her for a moment before nodding his head, "Okay, we'll stay and do the tasting, but if you want to go, say the word."

"I want to stay." She said pulling her hand away, "You've gotten BBQ sauce all over me." She said but there was a smile on her face, "But clearly not as much as you've managed to get on your face."

The rest of the afternoon went off without any negative attitudes from either of the partners as they laughed and joked tasting all different styles of beer and wines and when they left the Atlantic Brewing Company they had three bottles of wine, a case of mixed beer, some sodas for Parker and one special bottle of the limited edition 'Ellen's Coffee Milk Stout'.

In the car their good time continued as they talked about which drinks were their favorite, which ones should never see the light of day again, Booth raved about the BBQ joking that he was going to kidnap the cook. "You think you'll have room in your kitchen for both the cook and Elsie?" Brennan grinned.

"I'm sure I can knock down a wall or some-"

"Booth stop, turn around." Brennan interrupted suddenly.

"What?" he asked, slowing the car and putting his turn signal on.

"Aquaterra Adventures." She said, pointing vaguely behind her. "Let's go back."

Booth turned the car around and pulled into the other lane, turning where she said too, and found himself at a Kayak tour place, "Kayaking?" he asked pulling into a parking spot, "You want to kayak?"

"Don't you think it would be fun, with your upper body strength is should be easy for you, and I am also physically fit." She turned a pout on him, "Please?"

Booth shook his head, not being able to get that look of anguish out of his mind there was probably nothing he would say 'no' too to keep her happy, "Okay, okay. Let's go, but if you purposely tip our kayak so we get eaten by sharks…" he trailed off leaving his threat open.

Brennan rolled her eyes, "I promise not to flip our kayak if I see a pod of sharks." Shaking her head she got out of the car and met Booth at the back of the Audi, "We aren't really dressed correctly."

Booth looked around and shrugged, "I bet they have some stuff inside we can buy." He said, still unwilling to do anything that might ruin Brennan's good mood, "Hopefully they have some shark repellent."

"The chances of us actually getting-"

"No Bones no, no putting that out there in the universe." Booth said, putting his hand on the small of her back as they walked into the Aquaterra Adventures building. Sure enough they had a little shop where the partners bought kayak appropriate attire, once changed they joined the next tour group headed for the Porcupine Islands.

"You riding with the little lady or taking a solo?" one of the participants asked looking at Brennan as she looked over little knickknacks in the little store.

Booth looked him over before narrowing his eyes, "I'll be with her."

The other man nodded, "Probably best, keep her from tipping herself over."

Booth looked over at his partner, "I have no doubt that she could do it all by herself if she wanted too, I on the other hand would probably end up tipping." He shrugged.

"She one of those feminist?" The man asked.

Booth sighed and narrowed his eyes, "Look, my pa-friend can do anything she sets her mind too, doesn't mean she needs a label."

The man held up his hands in mock surrender as Bones came back over to stand next to Booth, "We should check that out when we leave, I'm sure Parker would love a little trinket, we could get him the shark."

Booth smiled at her, "I'm sure he would love that."

"Well Hello there." The man said turning his attention to Brennan, "How are you little lady?"

"I'm actually taller than some of my peers; you and I are almost the same height. This leads me to believe that you either have poor eyesight or you are calling me some chauvinistic term." She replied, taking an almost unnoticeable step closer to Booth.

"Are you for real?" the man asked.

"She is very real." Booth said, "This is one of the world's best forensic anthropologists."

The man sputtered, mouth gaping in an almost perfect example of a fish and turned on his heal going to rejoin his group of friends.

"What an annoying man." Brennan said before shrugging, "So, I think it would be best if I'm up front and you're in the back and neither of us will tip the boat on purpose."

Booth laughed, "That's quite right, no shark bait here."

"I'm assuming that was sarcasm as it would be unintelligent to bring shark bait into waters that sharks have been known to frequent." She retorted before the tour guides came and explained to them the process of the tour and its safety procedures. It wasn't too long before the group was all in kayaks, some in group in solo kayaks. Booth was pleased to note that the irritating man was in his own kayak and nearly tipping over while they waited for the last few participants to get instructions.

The tour took about three hours, and Booth and Brennan chatted amongst themselves about the views, the paddling and joked about sharks, quietly to themselves as to not needlessly scare any of the other passengers. When they reached land again, they got out of the boats stretching their legs by walking around the dock.

"Excuse me." A slightly older woman asked, stepping up to the partners, "Hi, I'm sorry, I hope this doesn't seem weird, but I was wondering if I could have your email address." She said and noticing their looks, a mix of confusion and suspicion, she hurried on, "It's just that while we were resting before the return trip…you two looked so adorable talking to each other like you were the only ones on the planet…and I…" she blushed, "I took a couple of pictures and thought you might like a copy of them."

Booth and Brennan exchanged looks, and a slightly pink Brennan shrugged, "Sure. We would love copies." She said, "When we get back inside I'll write it down for you." And when they got inside Brennan asked for a pen and paper, writing down her name and email before handing it to the woman, "Thank you so much." She said, before turning to Booth. "Don't forget I want to get that shark." She said, and once they had the shark and changed back into their street clothes they hit the road.

"That was a good idea Bones." Booth said rolling his shoulders, "I'm glad you saw it."

"Me too." She smiled at him.

The rest of the trip was spent in a comfortable silence when they got back to the house they were greeted by Christopher who raised his eyebrow at the pair, "You guys look awfully tan for just going to a tasting."

Booth and Brennan shared a grin, "That's because we went kayaking." Brennan replied, "How was…your friendly reunion?"

"Oh, good, it was good." He smiled brilliantly, "I think the kids all crashed after having too much ice cream. I came home to find them all passed out in the game room, pops included he's sleeping in one of the chairs"

"Was sleeping." A voice came from further in the house and they looked over to see Marcus walking towards them, "Did you three all have fun on your outings today?"

The three nodded, "How's Parker?" Booth asked, "He behave okay?"

"Parker was a peach; he's a very well behaved young man." Marcus replied, "I think we're all going to stay in for the night. What are your plans?"

"I'm going to meet Elizabeth again tonight." Christopher said inching towards the stairs, "So, I'm going to go shower and get ready." And Marcus turned his look on the cronies.

They shared a look before shrugging, "We have no plans." Booth said, "Probably just a night in, we went kayaking after the tasting."

Marcus' grin intensified, "Sounds fun, I hope you had a good time." At their nod he said, "You guys probably want to rest after all that paddling. Oh! Perhaps tonight you could go on the Iris tour."

"Iris tour?" Brennan asked.

"The Wild Iris Horse Farm offers carriage rides; it would be a fun thing for you guys and the little man to do." Marcus said, "The rest of us are staying in but that doesn't mean that you have too."

Brennan shrugged leaning in to hug Marcus, "We'll see, right now, I think I'm going to take you up on your suggestion of taking a little siesta."

"Ditto." Booth said before following Brennan up the stairs, "We could do the carriage thing if you want…if you're not too tired later that is."

Brennan grinned, "You know, that does sound like fun." She said, "We'll have to talk to Parker about it. I'll see you in a little bit."

The two parted ways and once in her room Brennan called Angela and they talked a little about what was going on in the lab, and Brennan said she was spending her time off not working, and told Angela what she spent the afternoon doing but didn't tell her that Booth had also been there. Once done talking to her she lay down on her bed and took a much welcomed rest.

At dinner Booth talked to Parker about going on a carriage ride, but Parker having known that 'Grandpa Marcus' was going to mention the idea to his father and friend declined the offer to attend, "No, I want to stay and play with everyone else." He said, "But you and Dr. Bones should go, I bet it'd be a lot more fun than sitting around drinking all kinds of drinks."

Booth and Brennan laughed, but in the end they found themselves back in a car headed towards the horse farm. "I've never been on a carriage ride before." Brennan said.

"Me either, but I have to admit it does sound interesting, and we are seeing Maine from many different points of view." Booth replied.

When they got to the Wild Iris farm they were surprised that a reservation had been made under their name, "I think we've been set up." Booth said watching the staff member go off to do a last minute check to make sure everything was in order.

Brennan frowned, "It is very convenient that everyone seems to be leaving us to our own devices."

"Not that I'm complaining, I've had a really good time so far Bones." Booth said with a grin.

Brennan returned the smile, "Me too."

The carriage ride took them on a slow tour through the streets of Maine, the driver sharing facts and tidbits about the interesting history of the town. When the sky darkened the partners were handed a blanket that they spread over them.

"This is nice." Brennan said, "It seems like it is pointless when we could have just walked around on our own, but I find that I am really enjoying this."

"I couldn't agree more Bones." Booth said, and noticing his best friend's yawn as the carriage began their journey home he put his arm around her and pulled her close, "Come on Bones, looks like someone didn't get a good enough rest this afternoon. Use my arm, seems to make a good pillow for you."

Brennan grinned and put her head on his shoulder, "Thanks Booth."

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When they got home the house was silent and darkened, "Guess everyone went to bed." Booth said leading the way up the stairs, stopping at Parker's room and checking in on Booth's sleeping son. When they got to their doors they smiled at each other.

"I had a good time today Booth, I'm glad that, even though I'm sure you are right in your assumption that we've been set up is probably correct, we did everything today. "

"Me too Bones." Booth said in complete agreement. "I guess I'll see you in the morning."

Brennan nodded, "In the morning then." She smiled turning to let herself in her room.

"Bones?" Booth's voice had her turning back.

"Yes Booth?" she said raising her eyebrow, but instead of answering Booth took a step forward pulling Brennan into his arms and placing his lips over hers in a gentle kiss.

"Goodnight Bones." He said stepping back, and opening his own door.

Brennan looked at him for a moment collecting her thoughts, "Goodnight Booth." She said softly and both partners entered their own rooms for the night, doors closing silently behind them.

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Oh man, 4am my time, I should be asleep! I have to say I wasn't planning the Kayak thing, but I keep seeing it on my list and then ****_jsboneslover_**** mentioned it, and I couldn't help myself. All the places are real, but I haven't been to any of them since I haven't been to Maine in like 7 years so, creative license strikes again! Thanks for the reviews and stuff they make me happy! You guys are awesome!**


	11. Alarming Aftermaths

**So, sorry about the delay, I got called with an interview for a company I knew nothing about so I spent a few days studying up on it, and then I went to bed early so I could be well rested for the crack-of-dawn interview. I had meant to spend today working on this story but got roped into going to help someone do errands that I thought would never end. Anyway, hopefully we're back on track and I'll update like before.  
Don't own them!  
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_Sleep._ Sleep is a naturally recurring state characterized by reduced or absent consciousness, relatively suspended sensory activity, and inactivity of nearly all voluntary muscles. It is a heightened anabolic state, accentuating the growth and rejuvenation of the immune, nervous, skeletal and muscular systems. It is observed in all mammals, birds, many reptiles, amphibians, and fish.

But apparently it was not meant for Temperance Brennan. Booth had kissed her, sure he'd done that on a few occasions before, but not after telling her that he had to move on, and then fly to the other half of the world only to return home with someone else. Seeley Joseph Booth had kissed her Temperance Brennan and now some hours later she could not fall asleep.

She had thought she missed her chance when she had turned him down that night. When she went to Maluku she had thought she could work through her thoughts. She went because she felt almost suffocated by all the murders, they caught so many murderers but it never ended, she hadn't lied when she said she was tired of the murders and the victims. But she couldn't lie that a part of her had also gone to get away from Booth so she could sort out her feelings with him as well. She thought that by going she could manage to fully compartmentalize them, but her feelings grew until the little non-literal box in her mind shattered. She had come home with hopes that Booth hadn't fully moved on and was heartbroken to learn that he'd brought home a reporter named Hannah. And when they worked on that case about the cardiac surgeon, Lauren Eames it confirmed what she had decided in Indonesia that she didn't want to live alone afraid to try.

But she never expected to get another chance, not with Booth and yet here she was laying in bed hours after a kiss that wasn't especially passionate, but spoke volumes. It spoke of a future, and with a smile on her face Brennan fell asleep.

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Well she didn't slap him so Booth was going to take that as a positive sign, she hadn't exactly kissed him back either, but he'd sprung the kiss on her and it was over before she probably processed what was happening…at least that was what he was going to tell himself.

The day had been perfect, fun, and romantic, he couldn't not act on his feelings; had to at least see if there was a chance for them, he wasn't going to give up on them this time, he was in for the long haul. He fell asleep quickly.

Some odd hours later he as awoken by a terrible shrieking sound, groggily he realized that his phone had been set to go off at 3:21AM, turning the alarm off he frowned knowing that he had not set the alarm, he thought back and realized that the only other person who would have had access to his phone was Brennan, and that was when they were getting ready to go kayaking. He had handed over his belongings to store in joint locker that held their belongings so they wouldn't get ruined or lost if something happened while they were on the water. She must have set it when he was changing and she was placing their belongings in the locker, by why?

Exactly nine minutes later he was pretty sure he had the answer to that question, as not only did his phone go off, but a loud alarm came from under his bed. Turning off the new alarm popup on his phone he hopped out of bed, and on his hands and knees peered under the bed only to discover that the source of the noise was not one alarm clock, it was about twenty alarm clocks.

Since Bones had been with him the whole day that left Christopher, this must be their payback for telling Marcus about the syrup thing. He had to admit, as he turned off all the alarms one at a time, he'd gotten off easy by the sound of their stories.

After the last alarm was turned off Booth climbed into bed yawning and it wasn't long before he was back in the land of dreams. Of course twenty minutes after the terrible wakeup call he was awoken yet again only to discover that there were five alarms in the canopy above his bed. He groaned turning them off and getting back into bed. With a glare at his door, as if it was the culprit he closed his eyes, but fifteen minutes later alarms starting sounding and he was out of bed yet again. He found one under each of his bed side tables, and heard an alarm in his closet. Turned out there were eight alarms in his closet. Turning them all off didn't stop the noise though.

With a scowl he abruptly turned on his heel and left his room not worrying about social cues he opened the door to Brennan's room and strode purposely to the bed, "Bones." He said.

"lkhlkf?" was the reply from the lump in the middle of the bed.

Booth jumped onto the bed and gave his partner a good shake, "Wake up Bones."

Brennan made a sound of protest pulling away from him and opening her eyes to glare at him, "What?"

"There are about a million alarms going off in my room, and you're going to help me find and turn them all off." He said with a glare, "Come on Bones, the sooner you help the sooner you can go back to sleep."

Bones yawned, "I didn't put them in there."

Booth shrugged, "I know, you were with me most of the day, but I'm willing to bet that you were late to breakfast because you and Christopher were plotting your little prank. Then while we were doing our thing in the morning Christopher was not meeting up with some friend he was out buying every alarm clock in the United States. When we left for the carriage ride, I'm willing to bet he placed them all over my room. I bet he even got my kid involved. I'm surprised that noise hasn't woken everyone, but since I can't hear it from in your room, I'm guessing the rooms are soundproof, or close to it." Brennan nodded in confirmation, "Come on." He said taking her hand and pulling her from the cocoon of her covers.

Brennan followed tiredly behind him, allowing him to pull her into his bedroom coming fully awake almost immediately after stepping into his room and closing the door. The sound was deafening, alarms blared from unknown locations. It would have been funny if it hadn't been the cause of her being awake so short after she finally found herself drifting off. "I'll look on this half of the room, you look on that half." And with that the partners split up. Brennan found small travel alarms under each couch cushion and two behind the TV. Laying on the frames of most of the pictures were wrist watches beeping, there were alarms in the shoes that Booth hadn't wore that day. His suitcase, all drawers, chairs. Alarms were everywhere; by the time the partners had finally gotten all the alarms to stop it had been an hour and 89 alarms later.

"I would say this prank backfired." Brennan said not knowing what else to say.

"I think it worked pretty well, I feel like I've been punished, and my dreams were interrupted." Booth said with a shake of his head, he'd been having a good dream too, one that involved his partner but minus the alarms.

"I was not to be…punished…also." Brennan gestured to the pile of alarms Booth was seriously considering setting and putting them in Christopher's room, he wouldn't even hide them, it'd be a pain just to have to turn them all off. "You were just meant to turn them all off, but no, you had to come and wake me up."

Booth looked at his annoyed partner, her hands on her hips glaring at him, and he burst out laughing, "I'm sorry." He said.

She smiled, "I'm also sorry. I probably wouldn't have apologized in the morning, but having to help with the alarms…I'm feeling sympathy to your loss of sleep." She looked around the room before meeting his glaze, suddenly feeling awkward she moved towards the door, "I should go back to my room, I doubt we missed any alarms. Goodnight Booth." And then she was gone.

"Night." He said to the empty room before climbing back in bed making a silent promise to not get on Christopher and Bones' bad side again.

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When Booth awoke next the sun was coming into his room, he went about his morning business before opening the door and stepping out, and only instead of stepping out into the hallway he was hit face first with a hard substance. Staggering back he looked at the doorway in confusion moving cautiously to the door he held out a hand and realized that he'd been Saran plastic wrapped into his room, from top to bottom the plastic was pulled tight so that it wasn't noticeable.

Booth glared at the room across the hall before pulling the plastic down and tossing it into the garbage bin next to the bed. He made his way down the stairs and to the breakfast room finding his two pranksters, Chloe and Marcus already sitting at the table. "Morning." He said cheerfully, moving to fill his plate and taking a seat next to Brennan.

"Sleep well?" Christopher asked innocently.

"Oh, I had an alarmingly good night's rest." He replied taking a long pull of his coffee, "How did you sleep Christopher?"

The other man shrugged, "I slept like a baby, and it's so quiet around here that I couldn't imagine finding it hard to sleep."

Brennan looked between them and frowned, "Well I had a terrible night's sleep, first I couldn't fall asleep because…" She blushed, "Well I couldn't." And Booth's face broke out into a grin as he realized what must have kept her up, "And then, I was rudely awoken later in the night because of some…noise." She said, glaring at Christopher.

"I feel like I'm missing something." Marcus said looking from his son to one of the girls he considered his daughter. "What happened last night?"

"Nothing." Three people in the room said together.

"I believe the answer to that question." Avery said stepping into the room and filling a cup with tea, "Would have something to do with the bill invoice I received on 89 different types of alarm clocks."

Booth cringed watching Christopher and Brennan turn matching stares onto the standoffish member of the family. Avery was nonplused though as he took a seat at the table and grabbed a strawberry off Chloe's plate, "Then again, maybe someone has an appointment that they really wanted to make sure they awoke for."

Marcus looked at everyone's face his eyes narrowing, "Christopher did you put alarms in Tempe's room?" drawing the conclusion that that must be why she awoke during the night.

"What? No!" he said sputtering, "I did no such thing."

"He didn't." Brennan said, "There were no alarms in my room last night."

Marcus looked between the two who were trying their bests not to make eye contact, "Alright, since no one seems to be saying anything, I'm going to give you the benefit of doubt. However, if I find out that something is going on like the '87 burial act and you're all going to be wishing that standing in a corner was still an acceptable punishment for you." He made sure to make contact with each of his 'kids' and Booth could feel the heat coming from the stare even though he wasn't a recipient, "Just remember that there are a LOT of windows to this house and they all need cleaning."

"So, what are the plans today?" Brennan asked after a moment of silence, "Or shall we be breaking off into little groups again today?"

"I was thinking that since you've experienced Maine by seeing it on a the water, and going through parts of it on a carriage ride, that we could see it today while going on a family bike ride." Marcus said, "Let's make a day of it in Acadia National Park."

"I think that sounds like fun." Brennan said, turning to meet Booth's glaze and they shared one of their wordless conversations, "We're in. We won't be biking all day though right? I imagine all five kids will be pouting if we attempt it."

"No not all day, just part of the day." Marcus said, "I thought we'd break it up, bike a little and maybe stop in the gift shops, eat in the park, there is some climbing, and we could cool off with a swim and the kids can play in tide pools."

"That would be nice, it's so beautiful outside that that sounds prefect, and I bet Parker would love to play in the ocean." Booth said with a grin.

"Booth you're a degenerate gambler, you shouldn't be making bets." Temperance scolded turning a scowl in his direction.

"Turn of phrase, I wasn't really saying I was going to bet anyone." Booth said with a shake of his head, "I don't bet anymore."

"That's true." Avery said matter-of-factly, and Booth narrowed his eyes at him, "Oh, what? Like you didn't think I knew that out of all the millions of things I've been saying?"

Brennan turned a curious look at Booth, "You've been talking to Avery?" she frowned, "What's he been telling you?" she said with a slight glare pointed at the aloof man's direction.

Booth shrugged, "Just that he keeps a file on everyone you come into contact with. I got to say, we could use someone like Avery at the FBI, of course, I have a feeling that the FBI would like to talk to him as a person of interest."

"Most of the information is easy to get a hold of if you know who to ask. I know a lot of Whos." Avery shrugged casually, "Everything else, I have a team for that."

Brennan shook her head, "Are you kidding me? When did you get Booth alone?" She asked in outrage turning her attention to Booth, "He's just our Alpha Male here; you don't have to take anything he says seriously. We don't."

Booth rolled his shoulders, "Bones, its okay. It's nice to know that there is someone watching your back. I've got to say though, if there is someone following you around twenty-four seven, how did Taffet get you?"

Brennan frowned, but it was Marcus who answered, "Avery doesn't have us followed that often, he likes to keep on top of things. If Tempe switches grocery stores then it could be months before we make sure that they aren't hacking up baby elephants and putting them into their pies. It's the people she's in contact with every day that we have concern about. When you got teamed up as her partner there was a background check run on you."

"Most of the stuff Avery knew wouldn't have shown up on a background check." Booth retorted.

"That's because it wasn't a government background check, it was an Avery Mead Special." Christopher supplied, "It's better than a government check."

"You guys, you promised to play nice when I told you I was bringing someone." Brennan made sure to turn her glare on each member of the family.

"We were just putting the fear of God into him." Christopher huffed.

"Booth already has a fear of God." Brennan shook her head, "I don't-"

"Bones." Booth said placing an hand on her arm, "Don't worry about it, It was just an expression, I think in this case their use of 'God' was meant to be more like big brother." He paused, "Big brother referring to the government and how they are 'always watching'. They weren't really doing anything about my religious views." Brennan frowned and started to say something but Booth continued, "Besides, I'm okay with it. At first I wasn't, but I would expect nothing less of someone I expect to have you back, and Avery and the others are just trying to look out for your best interest."

Brennan sighed, "Okay." She said softly turning her attention back to the family, "But if you ever meet any of my other team members you let me know before you 'put the fear of God' into them." She said, "That way I know if I want to kill any of you or not."

The group slowly nodded in agreement, Booth stood, "I guess, I'll go get ready for today's activities. I better find my kid too and get him ready."

Booth made it out of the corridor and halfway to the kids' playroom when Brennan caught up with him, "I'm really sorry about Avery." She said, biting her lip.

"Bones don't worry about it." Booth tried to reassure her, "We talked the day you went to the store with Christopher, and I'm still here. I'm not going to leave because you're brother is trying to make sure I fly straight." When she opened her mouth he held up his hand, "Not being literal, I know I can't fly."

"As long as you're sure." She said after a moment, "I just don't want you to think Avery is after you personally. I know it's an invasion of your privacy, but I think he only looked into you the first year maybe the second, but it's not like he's following you around. He likes you, so he has no reason to bug you. You're privacy is yours."

Booth found that piece of information interesting, it appeared that she didn't know that Avery was still watching what he did, otherwise he wouldn't have known about the Hoover confession. He could have known about Hannah just because she was new to their group, but he seemed to know that they broke up because of Bones and not just because Hannah and him didn't mesh well. But he wouldn't out Avery on that front, it wasn't like he was using that information for his own personal gain, just to keep his family safe, and Booth wasn't going to get him in trouble with Bones for that.

"I'm sure I'm not going anywhere." He said taking a step closer to her, "You're stuck with me."

Brennan looked him over with a tilt of her head in that way she does when she stares at her bones and Booth saw when she decided on whatever she was thinking about. She gave him a slow smile, "Good." And with that she turned on her heel and headed off in the other direction leaving Booth to stare at her retreating form with a goofy smile on his face. When she was out of sight he snapped out of it and remembered why he was in that hallway anyway and went to get his son ready for the day's events.

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**Short, sorry, but it's all I got tonight. I'll hopefully have another chapter up tomorrow, if not the next day. Promise not to go four days without an update this time. And yes Booth is going to have some words about the pranking that's being sent his way, I didn't just let that go. Reviews are loved, I love hearing my email ping with a new review! See ya next time!**


	12. Camps and Bike Rides

**I'm glad to see that you guys were pleased I didn't abandon this story. No worries, I might have a few days I don't update, but I'm not going to abandon this ride any time soon.  
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Booth was in Parker's room sorting through his son's belongings, "I know that you have swimming trunks, Bud, I remember packing them myself."

Parker huffed, "Dad, of course I have them. I went swimming with Melanie and Dylan down at the pool the other day. But I changed back in my room; they have to be around here somewhere."

"You're sure that you changed in here and not maybe down in the pool room?" Booth asked his child, _or one of the other millions of rooms this castle has._

The knock at the door stopped Parker from answering and instead the young Booth pulled the door open expecting to see Bones it took him a minute to recover, smiling he said his greeting, "Hi Chloe! We're looking for my swimming trunks and then we should be ready."

Chloe smiled and ruffled the young kid's hair, "No rush, we've actually had a small change of plans." She said looking over to Booth, "We were thinking that we'd do the park thing, and campout at one of the campsites, would you be okay with that? I asked Tempe and she said that was something that you liked to do, but that she wasn't going to assume." She said with an eye roll.

Booth smiled, "No, I don't mind." He looked at the child in the room, "What do you think? Want to spend the night looking at stars?"

"Yeah! We haven't been camping in forever, will there be S'mores?" Parker asked excitedly, barely keeping his feet on the ground as he jumped eagerly around the room.

Chloe confirmed with a quick bob of her head, "It wouldn't be camping if there wasn't S'mores. However, I hope you make a good one because some of the guys in this group always manage to burn them, and if we left it up to them we'd all starve!"

Parker's chest puffed out, "My dad can make the best S'mores and I help. It's a Booth family secret." He said with a smile, "Come on dad, we have to find my trunks so we can go camping!"

Booth resisted the temptation to roll his eyes, "Don't worry, we'll find them. But we aren't camping until tonight, we're going to be doing a bunch of other things today, it's going to be a long, but fun day."

Parker nodded, "I know. We're going to get bikes and ride them around, and swim, and check out some museum, and the visitor centers, and the gift shops." He paused for breath, "Do you think we can pick something up for mom as a gift, so she knows that even though I'm having super fun with you and Bones and Bones' family that I was thinking about her?"

Booth nodded, "Of course we can pick something up for her, and I think she would like to know that you didn't forget about her on your trip."

Parker grinned, "Maybe Bones can help me pick something out for her." He paused, "Can we get something for Bones too so that she'll remember the good time we are all had?"

Chloe grinned, "I, for one, think that sounds like a great idea." She interrupted the conversation between son and father, turning her attention back to Booth, "I'm going to go get my own brood ready, but if you want to pack a small bag with a change or two of clothes, and if you need a backpack or duffle I know where we can get one."

Booth shook his head, "No that's okay, I brought a backpack as my carryon bag, so I'll just use that, but thank you, I'll make sure we are down soon."

Chloe shrugged, "I think now that we turned this into an overnight thing that everyone else has started taking their time, so don't rush." She said, and with a quick wave she left the two Booths alone.

Booth turned his attention back to finding his son's swimming trunks, "Did you leave them in the bathroom?"

Parker looked at him blankly for a minute before his mind went back to the original reason his father came into his room, "Oh yeah, I bet that's where they are!" he ran into the bathroom and came back out moments later with a triumphant expression on his face, holding up a pair of blue and brown swimming trunks, "Got them!" he said putting them onto the pile of clothes on his bed that his father had taken out of his suitcase to put in their bag for the night. "So can we?"

Booth paused in his task of picking up his son's clothes to take to his room to pack in his backpack, "Can we what?" he asked, feeling like he missed something.

Parker looked at him with an expression Booth was sure he picked up from Bones, "Can we get Dr. Bones something at the gift shop? I want to thank her for letting us come with her, and I want her to have something that she'll always remember out trip together because we're a family."

Booth gave a short nod, proud of his son for being so caring, "Yes, I think that's a great idea and I'm sure Bones would love anything you get her, we'll pick something out together okay?"

Parker nodded, "That sounds good maybe we can each get her something, and she'll know how much she means to us. Maybe she'll even be your girlfriend again; I think she wants to be."

Booth's glaze shot to his son's "Why do you say that?"

Parker rolled his eyes, "Dad, come on, she always wants to be with you. But not like Hannah, Bones is glad just to be with us, and not just you. She said this morning before you got up that maybe we could go to a footbase game and we could tell her all about it." He said and broke out with a childlike crackle, "She meant football but she confused it with baseball! We have to take her to a game now!"

"Why were you talking to Bones about football?" Booth asked out of curiosity, thinking that the idea sounded good, and made a mental note to check to see when the Steelers would be playing in the area during the season.

"Christopher and she were talking about some football that they accidently buried." Parker paused narrowing his eyes, "Only I don't think they did it on an accident. But they were talking about it, and Bones said she didn't understand the point of watching men run from one side of the field to the other, and Grandpa Marcus and Christopher both got all red faced and tried to tell her what it was all about, but she just rolled her eyes and went into the breakfast room to talk to Chloe." Parker shrugged.

Booth chuckled, "I guess we'll have to take her to a game so the Marcus and Christopher don't have matching strokes trying to explain the game to her." Booth paused narrowing his eyes, "Speaking of Christopher, Parker do you know anything about eighty-nine alarm clocks?"

Parker's mouth formed a perfect 'O', "I told him that you wouldn't be happy if he put them all in your room, but he just smiled and said that he slept in a different part of the house and he'd lock his door."

"So you didn't help him?" Booth asked.

Parker shook his head, "No way, I wouldn't like to be woken up to all those alarms, so I didn't want to help put them in your room." He bit his lip, "But I did help him put plastic in front of you door." He laughed, "I bet you had a hard time getting out of your room this morning!"

Booth couldn't help but smile, "You'd be correct, I couldn't get out of my room this morning, ran right into it." Booth scooped up the clothes off the bed once more, "Go brush your teeth and then bring your toothbrush into my room so I can pack it." He said, leaving his son's room to go pack a few things himself. He'd just made it into his room when there was a knock on the door; "Come in." he called out dropping Parker's clothes unceremoniously onto the bed, reaching for his backpack.

"I hope that camping is okay with you, because I think it would be a fun time for Parker, but I told Chloe to ask you to make sure." Brennan came into the room and made herself at home sitting in the chair by the T.V.

Booth shrugged, "Both Parker and I think it sounds like a very fun idea, it will give us more time in Acadia and I heard rumors that there will be S'mores."

Bones smiled, "That's correct, and I make excellent S'mores." She said, "Just don't sit across from Christopher, one time he caught his marshmallow on fire and waved his stick trying to get it out." She shook her head, "The marshmallow dislodged from the stick and flew over the fire, luckily Avery had stepped away to relieve himself otherwise…well Christopher might have woken up in some foreign country."

Booth laughed, trying to picture Christopher's reaction to that and couldn't help but store that plan of action away, after all he owed him for a few pranks, and "Did you have anything to do with the plastic on my door this morning."

"No." she said quickly, but wouldn't look in his direction.

"Bones." He said crossing his arms over his chest.

Temperance shrugged, "You know I might have stopped them if I had a good night's rest, but since I was just a bit grumpy this morning and a little vengeful I let them be."

Booth's mouth dropped open in mock shock, "My own partner and son turning their backs on me." He shook his head.

Brennan gave a little laugh, "Don't even act, you deserved it you heard Marcus this morning, we've had to wash windows before for our pranks and it's never fun." She rolled her shoulders, "and Marcus always seems to find out what we were always up too."

Booth laughed, "I bet he had his hands full with you four."

Brennan nodded, "He did, Avery and I were very resentful having come from the foster care system, it was hard for either of us to trust him. Christopher was always getting into trouble at school because he could never sit still. Chloe was the only one that was always on her best behavior."

Booth rolled his eyes, "I see some things didn't change, I'm really glad I got to meet all your family Bones."

She smiled in return, "Me too, I think they like you." she looked around the room, "Don't forget to pack some long sleeve shirts, anything you think you might need we can always stop for and pick up."

Booth nodded, "Good idea, do you know if anyone is bringing any bug spray?"

Brennan shrugged, "I'm pretty sure that Chloe will have that, she has a little bit of everything in her bag."

Booth nodded once more keeping his head angled towards his bag, but looked at his partner out of the corner of his eye. She was looking at a picture of a flower bouquet on the wall and he wondered if maybe she was thinking about the kiss as much as he was. He thought about bringing it up, but didn't want to rush her, so far she wasn't running…not that she could run with a houseful of her family…but she wasn't pulling away from him either. Plus, he couldn't help but notice how domestic they were being at the moment and wondered if she noticed it too. "Then I guess we'll have everything we need." He said, pulling out a few shirts and shoving them into his bag, "Do you need me to pack some things in here for you?"

Brennan shook her head, "No, that's alright, I grabbed one of the bags from the cupboard down in the recreational room." She sighed, standing, "I'll let you finish up, and I'm going to go make sure that Christopher doesn't pack anything that will make any of us want to bury him in an unused path in the park."

Booth's laugh was her response.

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It took an hour for them all to finish up with the packing, getting supplies ready for their overnight stay, calling to arrange for a couple campsites, and a quick trip to get some groceries that the kids would not let the adults forget what true camp food meant. Once that was all settled they all split up into groups taking two Audis and a four door truck.

"I hate to say it, but after this week I'm really going to miss this baby." Booth said running his hand along the steering wheel even as he maneuvered the vehicle out of the driveway.

Brennan nodded, "They are a very nice car, and I have to admit."

Christopher rolled his eyes, "They aren't a good chick magnet car, but they do handle nicely." He said from the back seat.

"You're just mad that Avery wouldn't rent one for you. That's what you get for being a terrible driver." Temperance said, "You're just lucky that Avery didn't get one of those bikes that two people can ride on. Of course, that would mean someone would actually have to volunteer to ride with you."

"Harsh." Christopher pouted in the back seat.

They made their way to the campsite first, which was a process that amused and fascinated Booth. They made managed to get reservations at the Duck Harbor Campground, they rented out all five campsites. Grabbing all of their tents they left their belongings locked in the vehicles and took a ferry to the Isle au Haut where the campsites were located.

Once there they all got off the ferry and walked to the campsites that consisted of five 'lean-to' shelters, which were three-sided structures with a roof and a floor, big enough to put medium sized tents into.

"Okay. Here's how we are going to slip up." Avery said, "Booth, Tempe and Parker will take the first site, Marcus and Abigail will take the next, Chloe you and the kids will take the next one." He paused, "Chris you can have the next one to yourself, if I remember correctly there are beans and I'm just trying to save everyone's life." He grinned when Christopher punched his arm, "I'll take the last site that way I can keep watch on my end, and Booth will have the other." He paused looking at the FBI agent, "If that's okay with you."

Booth nodded glad that he was being trusted to be one of the 'lookouts.' "That sounds good to me, do you know if there is much wildlife?"

Avery shrugged, "I doubt we'll run into anything, and the reviews on the site were good, there are roughly 65 people who live on this island year long, but I'm not taking any chances with my family. Do you agree that this is the best set up for all of us?"

Booth thought about it before nodding, "I do, putting the kids in the center was a good plan, "Plus they are close to Christopher's site so maybe they will pull a Parent Trap and honey his tent."

Avery laughed, "Actually now that you mention it." He said glancing to see that Christopher's attention was elsewhere, "Who is in for a little Christopher pranking?"

Most of the adults all raised their hands.

They took an hour to set up all the tents, the children checking out their surrounds staying in the designated areas while the adults worked. Once that was done they all took the short walk back down to the dock to take the Ferry back to the mainland.

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It turned out when they got there that one of the bike they did get was a two person bike, a four-wheel bike for Marcus and Abigail. The kids all picked out bikes that were their favorite colors, the rest of the adults all opting for touring bikes.

They put items that they wanted to take with them into the bike trailers attached to Booth's and Avery's bikes before they set off on their way. Marcus and Abigail taking the lead with the kids riding behind them, Chloe right behind them, and the other four brought up the rear.

"This is fun." Booth said, keeping his bike next to his partner's, "I don't think I've ever been on a group bike ride before."

Brennan spared his a glance, "I don't think I have either, this could all end in disaster." She joked.

Christopher and Avery watched the exchange and shared an eye roll, "You know just because I'm here doesn't mean that everything ends in disaster." Christopher called to the couple in front of him.

"It's good that you know we think of you as a disaster." Avery chuckled, the fresh air seeming to open the remote man up for the afternoon.

The group bickered in good spirits on and off for about an hour taking small breaks to let the kids rest, they stopped at the visitor's center and watched a fifteen minute video about the park, where the kids all learned about a Junior Ranger program that if they took it they would get a certificate and a patch saying they were junior rangers. So all the kids begged their parents to let them go see what it was all about.

While the kids were doing some of the activities and participating in learning a little more about the park they were visiting the adults went off on their own. Marcus and Gail went through the bike trailers getting stuff ready for lunch so when the kids were done everything was set. "We have this set up, Booth, why don't you and Temperance go take one of the hikers paths and see a little of the sights." Abigail suggested, Avery and Christopher working together to light a park grill.

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**Short but I'm leaving you in suspense of some potential B&B time, and also the night sharing a campsite. HA! Leave me a review to make my night go faster, because they make me smile.  
If I'm not dead on my feet when I get home later tonight I'll work on the next chapter that will def., be longer.**


	13. Comprehension in the Forest

**Sadly it's come to my attention that I don't own Bones. However, I get to play around with them fanfic style, so here goes.  
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Brennan watched intently as Christopher and Avery fought over who was going to light the grill, being in Acadia National Park, she thought it best if she intervened, grabbing the matches and passing them off to her secretive brother. "Just because I don't feel like making national news because Christopher somehow managed to set the whole park ablaze trying to cook a few hamburgers." she said by way of explanation.

Booth choose that moment to walk over to the trio of mismatched siblings, catching Avery triumphantly take the box of matches from Bones, and Christopher stick his tongue out like an adolescent, "I'm glad to see you're all getting along. Bones, Abigail suggested we go on a little hike while we wait for the kids to finish their activity." The kids having joined a 'junior ranger' program for the afternoon before swimming with the rest of the group after lunch.

Temperance turned her attention to Booth looking him over before shrugging, "Sure, that way at least we can say we had nothing to do with the park going up in flames if Christopher gets hold of the matches." She said turning away from the boys before either of them could protest that they would have anything to do with the park lighting up. "Let's take the Jordan Pond Nature Hike, it's close by so we don't have to ride our bikes and then leave them unattended, plus it won't take that long so we'll be back in plenty of time to feed your bottomless pit of a stomach and then swim with the kids."

Booth let out a deep laugh, "Did you just call my stomach a 'bottomless pit'? I think this week has brought out your childhood." He said with a fond smile, "We should do this every year!" he said and at the nods of agreement from mostly everyone else in the group he settled on Tempe's unofficial brothers, personally he didn't want to submit a updated background check to Avery every year, and Christopher…well, he was going to get his, "Well…maybe every other year, wouldn't want Christopher to use all his pranking skills before his prime."

Brennan rolled her eyes taking Booth's arm, "We'll be back, we have our cell phones, if the park does catches fire let's all agree not to know Christopher." She said, pulling Booth along.

Booth disentangled himself from his partner doing a quick jog over to the cooler and grabbing two water bottles before rejoining his partner who was already headed down the road in the biker's path towards the trail opening, "Are you sure this is the correct way?"

Brennan shot him a look that said he shouldn't question her, and pointed to a sign up ahead a ways that said 'Jordan Pond Nature Trail', "This is the correct way; I did a little research while everyone else was still packing. Honestly, how long does it take to pack for an overnight stay? It's not like we are even that far from the house if we needed something. Elsie or Mitchell could bring whatever it was down." She shrugged her shoulder stepping behind Booth to let a few bikers go by before taking her place next to him again.

Booth shrugged, "But where would the fun in that be?" he asked, "If you have to keep calling to get things brought to you, besides, I bet after a certain time the ferry won't be going out to the island so late at night."

Bones nodded, "I suppose you are right, although if anyone needed anything right now Avery's girlfriend, Samantha, could bring it out when she gets here later tonight." They moved off the bike path and started to make their way onto the trail.

It was a nice trail, one of the easier ones in the park that would pose no problem for the two partner's who were both capable of handling even the hardest of trails in the park, but the hike was meant to be something to do while they waited for the food to cook, and the kids to return. The trail was made up of small stones with larger rocks scattered along the edges, made more for a family walk then an actual hike.

The partners walked along a short ways in silence taking in the view around them, "Hodgins would love to be playing out here in all this nature." Booth said casually, "Angela would probably love to get a few pictures of the view instead of taking pictures of corpses all day."

Brennan looked around and nodded, "We could take a few pictures to take back to them."

"You're going to tell them that we came here together?" He asked trying for casual.

She stopped and glazed up at him with a confused expression, "Why wouldn't I tell them?" she paused, "Because what is ours is ours?"

Booth shook his head, "I don't know. I guess just because none of us knew about this life, I thought…" he trailed off with a helpless shrug.

Brennan sighed, "Booth. I don't tell anyone about all this," she gestured behind them indicating the group of people they left behind, "because it's a…a tangled weave of lives, stories that aren't mine to tell." She said, "When I called to tell them that you were coming, I didn't give them the option to say no to me, but when Avery called to say he was bringing someone, or Chloe with Walton. You've heard bits of the stories, we aren't a typical American family…we've all…been through stuff."

Booth nodded, "I guess I can see your reasoning for that." He paused and a small grin broke out on his face, "You didn't let them have a chance to say no to me?"

Temperance rolled her eyes and started walking along the trail again, "No. I told you that you could come, so I wasn't going to let them turn me down. Besides, I wanted to get back to us." She frowned, "It's irrational because we haven't gone anywhere but we weren't…us. I feel like we've gotten back to that after only a few days here."

Seeley bumped her shoulder with his, "We have, we're back and we're not going to let anything get in the way of us again. Booth and Bones like Bonnie and Clyde, but without the robberies and the shooting to death thing at the end."

"And the murdering." She pointed out.

Booth shook his head, "No, we deal with murder so I'm leaving that in, we just aren't the ones to actually commit the crime, we just put the bastards away who do."

Brennan tilted her head in thought before nodded, "I guess you are right, we'll keep that in, but maybe we won't put it in our autobiographies, 'Booth and Bones like Bonnie and Clyde without the robberies and tragic ending, but with the murdering', because I can't see that going over to well."

Booth laughed, "Okay, we'll just phrase it a different way. Speaking of writing…how is the new book coming?" he put his hand on her back to guide her over the small wooden bridge.

"It's coming along quite nicely." She said, pausing in the center of the bridge to take a picture of the view, "You kissed me."

With the rapid topic change it took a moment for Booth's mind to catch up, and another to focus on the fact that Bones was bringing it up, "I did." Bones looked out at the water for a few seconds before turning to him as if waiting for something, "I'm not going to apologize for it." He tacked on.

Temperance squinted at him, "I would assume that you wouldn't if you meant it, and I don't presume that you would demonstrate a form of affection that you didn't mean…unless undercover, that is the exception for you, I think."

"Right, I wouldn't get intimate with someone unless I meant it." He agreed taking a small step towards her, "And I meant it last night Bones, I still think we could have the forty, fifty years."

Brennan sighed, "You say that, but you came back with Hannah, and…" she shrugged, "I don't know. But Booth, you should know." She bit her lip and turned watching as a small family of four walked past them on their way out of the forest, "You should know that while I was in Maluku I did some thinking." She paused to gage his reaction, but he was just looking at him, his facial expression neutral, "I went because I needed to get perspective, I wanted to get my mind cleared so I could focus on whether or not I wanted to continue working with the FBI…"

"But Bones." Booth interrupted intent on telling her that they were partners, that he needed her professionally as much as he wanted her personally.

"…Booth, I've always loved going to dig sites, I love my job." She continued on as if he never spoke, "But while I was in Maluku I realized that while I do still enjoy that part of my occupation that I like the fulfillment that comes from what we do Booth. I like putting people behind bars for the crimes they committed even if that means I have to see one victim after another." She bit her lip, "What we do is important we help people, it was people like us…well…it was us…that found out what happened to my mother. I like knowing that we help other people learn what happened to their mothers, fathers, children…I realized that I don't want to give that up."

"But I also realized…that if I was paired off with Sully or Perotta I wouldn't be making that same conclusion. My willingness to work with the FBI comes from being your partner as much as it does putting criminals behind bars. If I didn't have you as my gun then I wouldn't want anyone, but I also feel like now is a good time to once again bring up the option of issuing me a gun."

Booth shook his head, only Bones would put it a plea for a gun when she was talking about something so serious, "No Bones. Keep talking."

"I was talking Booth, you just didn't like where it was headed, really, I think it would be a good idea to issue a gun to me, I've proved myself time and time again that I am reliable. I fought off Guerillas while Ms. Wick distracted them in her underwear."

"No Bones, wait what? I don't know which part of that to focus on, the part where you were fighting off Guerillas or that part where Ms. Wick was in her under garments." Booth replied.

Brennan gave a small smile, "Well it is only human for a male to focus on the part of the less dressed female, and Ms. Wick does have a pleasing…"

"Bones." Booth held up his hand, "I didn't mean that, not like that. I'm more concerned as to why she didn't have clothes on in the first place, not that I was fantasizing about…you know what, get back to the original topic we'll come back to the Guerillas later." Brennan opened her mouth to reply but Booth shook his head, "I mean it, no mentioning Ms. Wick and her pleasing anything, I get that as a person who studies bodies, fleshly or not, that you notice these sorts of things but this part of the conversation is over, moving on….or back…either way back to the subject at hand, BEFORE the new gun request which is still no by the way." He paused sucking in air, "I believe that you were saying that I was your gun and you weren't going to let anyone else work with you."

"I wasn't going to say that no one else could work with me, I've worked with both of them and they were efficient…enough. I was saying that I wouldn't work with them or anyone else but you on a permanent partner basis." She huffed, "And either way Ms. Wick…"

"Bones!"

A passing couple looked around expecting to see skeleton remains before giving the partners a weirded out look and hurrying down the path causing Brennan to laugh, "They think you're crazy now." She held up her hands in surrender, "Okay, I'll stop mentioning Daisy." She paused trying to get her thoughts back together, "I was saying that you are my partner, and if it weren't for you…I don't want you to not be in my life Booth."

Booth shook his head, "Bones, you and I, we're a team. If you decided right now that you _have_ had enough and were never going to help out on another case, then we'd still go out to the diner together. I'd still call you asking for help and you would turn me down. You'd still write about me as my alter ego Andy. Bones you're my best friend and you aren't getting rid of me."

It was Temperance's turn to shake her head, "I don't mean it like that, though your reassurances are gladly accepted. I meant. I don't know what I meant, you weren't in Indonesia Booth." She said and Booth felt like she was accusing him of not being there rather than stating a fact, "This is hard for me, I had to come up with these conclusions myself and I'm not even sure if I got most of them right. When I have issues like this I come to you or Angela, but I didn't have anyone who was heart to tell me what I was feeling. I wasn't going to go to Ms. Wick." A small smile danced across her face briefly and Booth realized it was because she managed to sneak in Daisy once again and was proud of that fact, "While I found that she wasn't completely as…exasperating…on a dig as she is in the lab, I wasn't going to her for personal issues, we aren't friends and I am her superior it wouldn't have been right. Plus seeing as her and Sweets relationship was kind of 'up in the air' at the moment, she didn't seem like the best person to ask."

Brennan moved off the bridge feeling like they had taken up to much time while other people probably wanted to take pictures as well, they walked along the path a ways in silence, "I came to some conclusions Booth not just about work."

"Which are?" He asked quietly as they walked along the path, "Believe it or not Bones, you are a heart person. You just don't wear it on your sleeve like Angela and I do."

She smiled briefly, "Which is why it was hard for me to realize that going to Maluku wasn't just about the job. It was about getting away from you."

"Bones." Booth stopped, but Brennan kept walking forcing him to either be left behind or catch up with her, he caught up with her.

"I needed…we were different after that night talking to Sweets about his book. You said things would change and they did, we were more distant, but there was this…thing…between us. You kissed me and then told me you had to move on Booth. I can't process things like you do, I told you I couldn't change and you told me you had to move on and things did change. We changed, I changed." This time she wouldn't look at him, "I couldn't…I needed to think. But I didn't realize, not at first, that I was going to Maluku to get away from you so I could figure out how to fix us, to get us back to…us. But there isn't going back Booth."

"Bones, don't say that, we're back Bonnie and Clyde remember. We're back." He replied and there was a pleading tone in voice like he was afraid that she was telling him that their partnership was over and he wondered briefly if he'd screwed everything up beyond repair before realizing that they were here. He had joined Bones in Maine; if she was breaking their partnership up she would have told him in the lab she wouldn't have been cruel enough to lead him on.

Bones shook her head, "Yes, we are Bonnie and Clyde without the crimes and the tragic ending, but we can't be like the old Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan." She paused her steps and stopped to meet his glaze. "I'm not sure, but Booth…I think…while in Maluku…I think I came to the conclusion that I love you."

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"So are you saying that they killed each other?" Avery asked moving coal under the grill making sure it was burning properly.

"I'm just saying that the trail they took was only a mile round trip, they should have been back by now." Christopher said, "So Booth gets mad about the pranks, he's and FBI agent who deals with murders on a daily basis. Tempe is being cut up in little pieces and shoved in a hollowed out tree trunk somewhere."

"My money is on Tempe." Marcus said from his seat at the picnic table, "She's trained in several self defenses; she defended herself against his attack and is currently using the skills she picked up in the lab to decompose the body…meat… before doing her thing with the bones causing them to melt or something."

"Would you two stop it?" Abigail said, "They're probably making out like a couple of teenagers. The way those two look at each other…" she shook her head, "It's only a matter of time, besides if anyone is getting killed it's going to be Christopher. They'll do it together too, Booth will use his sniper skills to take him out and Tempe will use her anthropologist skills to make sure Booth is never tied to the crime."

Christopher turned to her, his mouth gaping "My own mother turns against me." He shook his head, "I haven't done anything that would make them team up together to take me out, besides Tempe has a strong moral compass, she wouldn't kill me unless it was in self defense, and since I don't plan on taking her on any time soon I'd say I was pretty much in the clear."

"Unless it has to do with those clocks, are you ever going to tell us what they were for?" Marcus asked.

Christopher's eyes danced from his father's face to an interesting looking tree, "I had a really important meeting that I needed to make sure I didn't miss."

"And what meeting would that be?" Marcus shot back.

"I had…to see…the doctor…about…my finger." Christopher said, "Yes, that's it, I had to see the doctor about my hand after getting attacked at the store with Tempe the other day. To make sure that the lobsters didn't have any diseases that they passed along to me."

"Like rabies?" Avery asked drily.

"Yes like…" Christopher frowned, "No, like water based diseases, I don't know I'm not a doctor I don't know what they could have given me, I just know what I needed to see a doctor to make sure that I wasn't given whatever the ocean's version of rabies is." He huffed.

"Do you think one of them got hurt and that is why they aren't back?" Abigail asked concerned about her non-blood daughter and her more than just partners partner.

"Abby, I'm sure that they are fine. Tempe has been wandering around jungles for years and Booth has been ducking and weaving in war zones, they can handle a relatively flat walk. I bet they just got caught up talking or they are taking pictures with that Uphone that kids have now a days. I tell you what, if they don't get back by the time the food is done cooking then we'll go look for them, but they knew that the kids weren't going to be back for a while. They are just taking advantage of some alone time, this is what we wanted for them anyway." Marcus said.

Christopher looked around the group with an almost pained expression. "Really? No one is going to say it? Okay, I'll say it. Dad it's an iphone not an uphone, I don't even know what an uphone would be. Hey you! You Phone me!"

Silence greeted his little joke.

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There you go, another chapter for you. I'd like to thank _chosenname_ for pointing out that I forgot about Samantha (and another character who will be making an appearance, didn't forget about that one) I realized after posting the last chapter that I did in fact forget her, so it was funny that someone else noticed too.  
And you got this update because _HammieHamHam_ tapped their foot at me. Ha-ha.  
See ya soon! (For real this time because I don't have another closet that needs organizing to distract me from updating.) Thanks again EVERYONE for reviewing it means a lot to me to get your feedback, I review and edit for a lot of authors out there so I know the importance of feedback. So thank you for taking the time, even if it is just to tap your foot at me, or say hi, or to yell at me for leaving B&B hanging on this chapter! Love!**


	14. Social Contracts and Tofu Burgers

**Don't own them.  
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The partners had made their way to the end of the path and the trail opened up to the beautiful view of Jordan Pond, Brennan snapped a few more pictures with her phone. "I kind of want to swim out to that boulder over there even though I know that swimming isn't permissible in this pond."

"It does look like a nice little pond to take a swim, you could always dive in and I'll just say that we're FBI performing a routine water maintenance checkup." He replied, trying to keep the mood light though his mind was going a million miles a minute. Bones had said she loved him, well she said she was pretty sure she'd come to the conclusion that she loved him. But even as she said it, Booth realized that it was a big step for her, so he gave her a momentarily out. Letting them get back to the easy banter as they finished hiking the trail getting to the destination.

Brennan lowered her phone and turned to look at him, "Since when does the FBI perform water tests?"

Booth shrugged, "Since we wanted to go swimming in a pond that says we can't" he said, though Brennan could tell by his tone that he was only kidding. "Let's take a walk around the pond get some pictures at different angles, and then we should probably head back."

"Because your bottomless pit needs feeding?" She asked with a smirk, putting her phone in her pocket and moving with him. "Do you think that Parker is having fun?"

"He's with those kids and he's doing an activity outside, I'd say he's about a happy as a child in a candy store." He replied.

"Unless that child isn't allowed to have candy, in which case that would mean Parker is having a terrible time…border lining on cruel." She retorted reaching out to take his arm to steady herself as she moved around one of the larger stones before letting her hand drop back at her side. "I find that I'm surprised you haven't pushed the pervious conversation."

Booth shook his head, "We tabled it for the time being, I know that you would want to collect your thoughts."

Brennan paused to look at him before continuing their progress around the pond stopping only to snap a few pictures, "I had almost a year to collect my thoughts, there wasn't much to do at night other then find ways to creatively stop snakes and mosquitoes from coming into your tent."

"So, you love me, let's talk about that." He stated, resisting the urge to jump around like a hyper overly excited school girl.

"I believe so; this would have been much easier if you'd been there to tell me what I was feeling. Then again I wouldn't want to talk to you about you so I guess it would have been better if Angela had been the one to be there, but she would hate being in some remote location swatting at mosquitoes and hiding from Guerillas." She frowned, "Anyway, I find that like my father and brother I don't want to lose you. I had been so worried for so long that something was going to happen to you. That you would get hurt on a case and there wouldn't be anything I could do to thwart it from happening. I didn't know what that would mean for our partnership."

"It means that you're a great partner, because I worry about those things too Bones, I worry that I'm not going to be able to protect you when some nut comes after you with a gun, or the next time some serial killer thinks it's fun to kidnap you and then ransom you off while you're stuck in some underground…" Booth shook his head, "Good partners worry, that's normal."

Brennan nodded, "I suppose so. But I also worry about Angela, she is like a sister to me, and I love her. It only seems rational that I would love you too."

Booth's breath rushed out of him; of course she would draw that conclusion. He'd been brother-zoned by his partner that he was in love with. Next maybe Christopher's next prank would probably get his foot chewed off by a bear.

"However, while I found that I did think about her often in Maluku, I didn't find her thoughts distracting." The frown reappeared, "I found that no matter how hard I tried to focus on a task at hand I was wondering what you were doing, what you were eating, if you were hurt. What we would be doing if we were back in the States together, if you would get some pie, how good fries would taste but only if they come off your plate." She took a breath, "I thought about you so much, I heard you in the back of my mind telling me what to do." She paused and the accusation was back in her eyes like it was his fault she was thinking about him, "It was quite annoying, I couldn't even tell you to shut up, that I could take care of myself because you weren't there."

Booth held up his hands in surrender, "I wasn't there so don't get out the pitch forks."

Brennan rolled her eyes, moving to take the trail back to the picnic area, "I don't love you like I love my family, even though you stated that there are different types of family." She said, "I think that means I'm in love with you."

"I think so." Booth replied easily.

"How do you know?"

"It's simple Bones, because that's how I feel about you. I love you; I'm in love with you. It's you or no one else for me Bones." He retorted, "I know because the feelings are mutual."

"So what do we do about it?" She asked.

"What do you suggest we do about it?" He asked, because he wasn't going to make the mistake of assuming they would just pick up and have a relationship, he'd let Bones get her opinions in this time, even if he had to talk her into a relationship with him.

"I think." She took a deep breath, "I think it would be best…"

"Bones, I'm going to stop you right there." Booth stopped their forward motions, placing a hand on her arm, "Because if you're about to end that sentence with '…if I hop on a plane to dig up remains on Pluto with Dr. Hum-man-na Chewbacca' it's not going to happen, I'm just going to get on the plane with you and you'll be stuck with me."

"I don't hop on planes that sound dangerous it would be much safer to walk onto one." She crossed her arms, "And you can't go to Pluto especially not on a plane and I don't know who Dr. Chewbacca is, I'm not familiar with his work."

"Seriously?" he asked his jaw dropping.

"Is he published? Would I have seen his work somewhere?"

"On Star Wars…big movie franchise, ringing any bells?" he asked.

Brennan waved her hand in dismissal, "I don't care for television that doesn't have a point to it, and a movie franchise about a galaxy that isn't even real doesn't suit my fancy." She rolled her eyes, "Besides, matter at hand, I think that we should enter a social contract."

"A social contract?" he repeated.

Brennan bobbed her head, "That's correct. A social contract."

"So am I going to get my new tie now…or…?"

Bones narrowed her eyes at him, "I think we are past that."

"You've already given me a tie to enter our social contract?" he asked jokingly.

"No." she frowned, "But you've given me the small pig and the Smurf figures, technically we've already entered a form of a social contract you are correct. So, then we are doing this wrong."

"Whoa, whoa. We aren't doing anything wrong, we're doing things Booth and Bones style, and we're different we don't follow the rules…" Booth retorted.

"Rules are meant to be followed." She pointed out interrupting him.

"Rules, Smules." Booth replied, "We don't need social rules to tell us what to do."

Brennan studied him, "You are correct again. So social contract…"

"Dating." He interjected, "You and I, you dressed up in something sexy, I'll dress up in something smashing we'll do the town red."

"I don't know what that means."

"It means we date, which is what we've been doing all along, but with more….intimacy." he explained, uncomfortable with having to map out how relationships, serious relationships, worked. But he would do it if it meant that Bones would be with him, "Exclusive dating."

Temperance looked up at him, "And if it doesn't work out?"

Booth shook his head, "You can't think that, you can't get into the rink thinking that you're going to lose it's just setting us up for failure. Besides, we're not going to not work out. I feel it, we're going to go the whole way we'll be old and Parker will be taking care of us and we'll be pulling stunts like forgetting where the keys are and ringing the doorbell at 2am and he'll get mad and threaten to send us to nursing homes, but he won't do it because if he sent his dad to a nursing home he would have to send his favorite Bones too."

Temperance laughed, "That's not true, you might be far enough gone to not know which is the fake rock, but I always keep my keys on me. I would just try every key. You're going into a nursing home old man!"

Booth's mouth dropped open, "You're really let me go to a nursing home alone?"

Brennan nodded, "I would, I have no intentions on ending up in a nursing home, and there are plenty of elderly people who function on their own right up to their deaths. Assuming that I don't come down with anything that would cause me to be unable to care for myself, I would like to be one of those people."

"Okay, so we'll get a house, and grow old sitting in our matching rockers yelling at kids to not step on our grass." He said, "Point is, we're going to last. We're going to work out. This is it for us."

"Is this one of your gut feelings? Because you're gut isn't always right." She retorted.

"My gut is fine, this isn't _just_ my gut. I know Bones, I just know." He repeated his words from the Hoover, because he does know, he can feel it.

Brennan looked around them, trying for all the world to get the answers from the forest around them, "Okay." She said softly, "Okay." She reached out attentively and took his hand.

"Okay?" he asked looking from their joined hands to her face.

"Okay. I'm willing to go with your gut that has no magical powers." She replied, "Okay we'll give our social contract a try."

"…and succeed." He grinned like a child in a candy store…one that could have candy.

"And succeed." Though her reply was skeptical, she couldn't forget all her reasoning, but she trusted Booth.

"Okay."

"Okay."

"So…" Booth said, "dating."

"This is awkward." Brennan said bluntly, "Is it supposed to be awkward?"

Booth shrugged, "I think so, we've both had relationships but neither of us has had the perfect relationship, we're in new territory, baby."

"Don't call me baby." She retorted.

"You grew to like Bones, you'll grow to like baby, Baby." He replied. Brennan dropped his hand and started moving down the trail without him, he hurried after her, "Okay, okay. No nicknames, I got it."

"You may call me Bones, I like Bones. I don't like to be referred to as an infant." She paused thinking, "Or a pastry."

"Right no baby, no muffin." He said reaching down and taking her hand, this time feeling more natural, "So dating."

"You said that already. So did I. In fact we're done a lot of repeating ourselves today." She turned an amused glance at him.

Booth stood short causing her to stop as well since their hands were joined, "Okay." He said, stepping close to her and using his free hand to take gentle hold of the back of her head. He kissed her deeply, his other hand letting go of hers to frame her face, and seconds later her arms were around his neck as she returned his affections. When he pulled away he rested his forehead to hers, "First official kiss, which means there can't be any awkwardness anymore."

Brennan chuckled, "That's not how it works, I'm socially awkward and I know that."

"Doesn't matter, we don't follow social rules remember? Therefore, I declare that we won't be awkward anymore." He retorted, taking her hand once more and continuing down the trail. "I feel like we've been on this trail for a few hours, it was only a mile roundtrip what does that say about us?"

"That we stopped plenty of times along the way to converse." She tilted her head in thought, "And that you could stand to eat a little less pie."

"You can never have too much pie." Booth said offended on behalf of his favorite dessert.

"I'll remind you that you said that when you can't fit out our front door to sit in our matching rocking chairs." She said with a soft laugh.

**BBBBBBBBBBBB**

Avery used his stainless steel 2 pronged fork to keep Christopher at bay, "If you even come near the hamburger meat you'll pulling metal out of your chest for the next week."

"Wow, could you be any angrier at the world, can I at least put some seasoning on Tempe's Tofu burgers? They look like cardboard, I don't understand how she doesn't eat meat anymore, look at them, I can't even...I think I might throw up."

"Did you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror?" Booth asked coming up behind the prankster, moving to stand between the two brothers, "Anything I can do to help?"

"You could tell us what took you so long." Avery said with narrowed eyes, looking towards his foster sister who was sitting with the Pines chatting happily about something.

Booth shrugged, "You mean you don't know?"

Avery let out a dark chuckle, "I'm not a complete sociopath, besides Tempe knows my people she would spot them, and then I won't be holding think tool, I'd be pulling it out of my back."

"Are you ever going to tell me how you knew what I said to Bones on those steps?" he replied.

"I would, but then you would know." Avery said sarcastically, "Don't worry, now that I've had some up close and personal face time, I'll back off. But If I even think that you're going to hurt my sister, there isn't a place you could hide."

"I'm not going to hurt her, don't threaten a federal agent." Booth said annoyed.

"Hey, hey. Future bro-in-laws let's all get along before the old man comes and we find ourselves volunteering to clean windows here in the park." Christopher threw in trying to diffuse the situation and keep the afternoon light. "So what did take so long to go for a walk?"

"We stopped to talk." Booth replied, "Bones shared some information about a field in Australia that was hard to get too, and I told her that I didn't need any light to know who was snooping outside our tent, and that if any foul play happens tonight someone is going to find themselves in a shallow grave."

Avery let out a deep laugh, while Christopher swallowed, "Uh. You know, I didn't have anything planned, it's harder to get away with anything when Dad's sleeping only a few tents away, but thanks for the warning anyway." Christopher said, and with that he turned and headed towards the bikes.

"It's too easy to pick on him." Avery said, turning a serious expression to Booth, "I will back off, like I said, just don't make me regret it. I'm trusting you to keep Tempe safe, if anything were to happen to her…"

"I'm her gun." Booth filled in when the other man trailed off, "I've got her back, and I think I've got her heart and I'm not going to let anything happen to that either."

Avery nodded, "Alright. Good enough. You wouldn't happen to know how to cook a tofu burger would you?"

Booth blanched, "By throwing it into the dumpster at the end of the field." And both men let out a chuckle.

"Seriously?" Brennan said, having left her conversation and moving over to the grill, "You put it on the grill and it gets all hot and delicious. You don't put it to close to the hamburgers, and you _don't_ let Christopher try to 'spice it up'."

"It would probably make it taste better." Avery replied with a shrug, "I'm just saying, let me coat it in a little hamburger…"

Booth backed away from the grill before either one of them decided to throw any form of raw meat/tofu at the other, "I'll just let you have your spat, I'm going to head to the restroom." And with that he turned and walked away, not that either adult noticed his exit to intent on the glaring contest they were having.

Booth nodded at Marcus and Abigail as he walked down the path leading to the public restrooms, once inside he checked for other signs of life before letting out a breath he felt he was holding all afternoon. "Bones loves me." He said quietly to himself. "Bones. Loves. Me." He said more firmly and a grin broke out on his face. "Bones loves me."

He paced the small restroom letting it all sink in, he'd wanted to jump for joy when she agreed to have a relationship with him, but was worried that if he overreacted it would trigger her fight or flight mode and he would lose this win he…they…had gained. "Bones loves me!" he said this time more joyous.

"Congratulations, you must drink a lot of milk." An older gentleman said coming into the bathroom looking at him strangely before continuing on to one of the stalls closing the door firmly behind him.

Booth coughed embarrassed before going about his business and exiting the bathroom, he quickly made his way back to the group where the kids and Chloe had arrived. Parker, who had been showing his plastic Junior Ranger badge off to Bones saw him and came running over, "Dad! Dad, look at what I got it says that I'm a junior ranger and that while I'm here I get to help keep the park clean! So don't litter or I'll have to tell a Park Ranger." He said excitedly, "Isn't it cool? Bones says that she's jealous that she couldn't take part in the program."

"I've got to admit that I'm a little jealous too, Bud, I'm very proud of you for making rank as a junior ranger." He said bending to give his son a hug, though he knew that probably every kid that went got a badge. "Are you hungry? Avery looks to be cooking the food."

Parker nodded, "I'm starving, and I could eat a whole cow! But don't tell Bones, because she took it literal when you said you were going to eat a horse. I don't want her to think I'd really eat a whole cow." He paused, "Well at least not in one sitting."

Booth chuckled as the two made their way to the rest of the group, "I won't tell her, she'd go into a lecture about how bad meat is, she'd probably try turning you into a vegetarian."

"That wouldn't be too bad; Bones is a really good cook. But I would miss meat; a nice juicy burger always hits the spot." Parker said, a kid after Booth's own heart. "Oh! Melanie wanted to show our badges to Avery." He said running off to where Melanie and Dylan stood chatting.

"I'm cooking all this food so someone should be nice and get me a beer!" Avery called out to the group in general. Bones rolled her eyes but walked over to get the beer and handed it to him. No one but Booth seemed to notice the exchange that took place between the two afterwards. Brennan nodded at something Avery said before turning and catching his stare; she smiled and made her way over.

"Did Parker show you his badge? I'm jealous I have to admit." She said casually when she made her way over.

"I did see, I'm a little jealous too, we should see if we can get in on the next class." He said jokingly, before nodding towards Avery, "Is everything okay there."

Brennan's forehead crinkled but she nodded, "Yes, fine." She waved her hand dismissively, "I'll tell you about it later."

Booth's gut picked up on something but he let it go with a tight nod, "Okay."

Brennan caught his tone and rolled her eyes, "Nothing bad, just a little…" she glanced around casually but Booth noticed she focused on Christopher who was playing ball with Wes a few yards away, "settling of scores."

Booth arched an eyebrow, "Are you sure that's something you want to take on with Marcus around?"

Brennan grinned, "Who says that Marcus isn't part of our little plot?" she leaned closer, "Just don't drink the beer that has a diamond on the label."

"I'm seriously never going to get over this playful…vengeful side of you." He said with a grin, "When we get home there are a few tricks I'd like to play on Dr. Hodgins."

Temperance frowned, "But Jack hasn't done anything to us."

Booth shook his head, "Doesn't matter, it's…bonding."

She narrowed her eyes at him, "I highly doubt that, I think you are just using that as an excuse for me to allow you to prank people in my lab." She tilted her head, "We will discuss it later, I suppose a harmless prank wouldn't be bad, and as long as it _is_ harmless you would be right about bonding….plus it might be fun. Partners?"

Booth grinned, "Oh yeah, Partners." He gave her a deep look, "Always partners."

Brennan flushed, "Correct." She said, they had decided on the walk back not to tell the family that they had decided to pursue a personal relationship between them having decided it would be more amusing to see what the family had to throw at them.

The group ate their lunch, and Temperance took the gently ribbing about her tofu burgers from the family. They chatted about little things, kids breaking in to talk about their afternoons activities. When lunch was over they all worked as a team to clean up the section of the picnic area that they had used.

Marcus clapped his heads together causing everyone's attention to fix on him, "I don't know about you, but after that meal, I could use a swim." Cheers went up from the kids, "Let's pack up take a short ride down to the Echo Lake Beach and we can all go for a dip." More cheers followed that statement.

**BBBBBBBBBBBBBBB  
I feel like I should state that some of these places aren't quite as close as I'm making them out to be Acadia covers a lot of territory, like the 'hike' B&B went on was near a restaurant of the same name, and the beach is on an island…but I'm a rebel! Still awesome places to check out if you're in the Maine area since a few of you have mentioned that you're having a vacation through my story. Ha-ha.  
Thanks for not yelling at me to bad for the cliffhanger in the last chapter, I hope this sort of made up for it. Anywho, I'm going to go because in the process of writing this I spilled sunflower seeds all over my bed. Rawr. As always thanks for the reviews!**


	15. Swimming and Gift Shops

**So, I didn't update this weekend with it being a holiday, and also my mother is having surgery Tuesday so I spent the weekend chilling with her. Also, Happy Belated Easter for those who are religious and Happy Belated Easter to those who are just in it for the zombie-related holiday where they get _chocolate_. And happy belated weekend to those who are celebrating neither.  
I don't own them, I can't even touch them. Shiny!  
BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB**

Once they had packed up the remains of their picnic they all hopped on to their bikes and made the slightly long ride down to Echo Lake and to the beach that boarded the lake. When they got there, they grabbed what they needed and locked up their bikes. They walked the trail down to the lake and when they got there they took a moment to soak in the beauty of the view before splitting up by gender and heading into the respectable changing rooms to get ready for an afternoon in the lake.

Brennan changed quickly into a two piece 'tankini', the top was a sporty striped number with an abundance of colors on it; the shoulder straps crossed in the back forming an x-back the style being a Zero Xposur top. The upper half of the top hugged her curves with a plunging neckline, while the lower half was more giving but still clingy, the bottoms were board shorts or 'boy shorts' in black.

Chloe was dressed similar though her colors were pink and brown, and Abigail opted for a one piece in navy blue with a swim skirt that was tan in color.

Once all the women and young Melanie were dressed they made their way down the beach finding a good spot to lay out their blankets. "Let's build a sand castle." Melanie said to Temperance taking a hold of her hand, "You're the best at it; you always know how much sand to use, and water to make them more sturdy. Please!?"

Brennan smiled, "Okay, I think it sounds like fun, and maybe this year we can keep Wes from trampling all over it." She replied setting her bag down on her towel and surveying the crowded beach looking for a good spot to make a sand castle. "There." She said pointing in the direction of her find and the two wondered off to start their building.

The males, having taken longer to change since there were more of them to keep track of, finally made their ways out of the changing room and after finding the women made their way over to them. "Where's Bones?" Booth asked scanning the beach.

"Over there." Chloe pointed, "My Melanie talked her into making a sand castle since she is the best, and since Tempe is a pushover she went along."

"The best at sand castles?" Booth asked crossing his arms and turning to his son, "What do we say we go give Bones a run for her money."

Christopher jumped up and down, "Oh my god! I totally want to play judge."

Parker looked from his father, then down to the beach where his favorite scientist was, over to the wacky man stood hopping up and down, "Why do I feel like dad and I are set up to fail?" Parker asked narrowing his eyes.

"Because you are." Avery replied dropping down on one of the beach towels, "Tempe never loses, we've all at one point in time have tried out witting her in the sand castle making, but she could enter one of those contests and I bet you she'd place in the top three. That science-y brain of hers….she knows just how much of every little thing to make a kicking castle."

Booth looked back down the beach where Bones and Melanie were filling buckets with sand and debated before shrugging, "Well then I don't want to challenge her." He turned back to his son, "How about we go see if they'll let us put in a man cave."

Parker pumped his fist, "Alright! Maybe we can even put in a T.V. since Bones isn't as opposed to them as before."

Booth laughed, "As long as it's a sand T.V. otherwise the water might ruin it." Booth turned his attention to the others in the group, "Anyone want to join us?"

"Nah," Christopher said pointed down the beach where his partner was, "But you might want to head over, seems little sis is attracting unwanted attention."

Booth's narrowed eyes shot down the beach and moments later his feet followed in that direction, "Come on Bub, let's go rescue the socially awkward doctor."

"Hey!" Chloe said in offense from her spot on the beach, not bothering to look up from her book.

"Wrong doctor." Booth called back to placate the young doctor, his long strides had him and Parker down the beach where Bones was giving a muscle head her 'you idiot' look. "Hey Bones, Parker and I thought we'd join you in your arts and crafts."

Bones turned from the other man and her expression brightened, "Good! We were just saying that we should have recruited more hands."

"I can help you, baby, if you want." The muscle head replied.

"No. Thanks." Brennan said, and Booth got the impression that it wasn't the first time she had, had to say no.

"No worries man, I'm here to help my girl and our kids now, so…" Booth trailed off with a narrowed gaze.

The man looked him over and rolled his shoulders, before turning his attention back to Temperance, "I'm sure I'd be more help that this joker."

It was Brennan's turn to narrow her gaze once more, "Booth may be a joker, but I'm assuming you meant it in a way that was not how it seemed to be implied." She paused looking to Booth for confirmation, at his nod she turned back and continued, "I can assure you that your services on this particular project or any other projects are not needed. Furthermore, I feel that I should tell you that while your choice of swimming attire is meant to make you seem…well endowed, it's not serving that purpose, and it's also bad for your boys there, you might want to rethink your choices and go change." She said dismissively.

"Why you little bi-" As the man spoke he took a menacing step towards Brennan, and when Booth saw that he quickly made his way between the two placing his hand up to stop the other man's forward progress. "You might want to rethink your words before you attempt to piss me off by calling my partner an unflattering word in front of me and these children." He said with his trademark 'suspect glare'. "Why don't you go back to whatever it was you were doing before you decided to harass these girls and we'll all just enjoy the rest of our day."

"Yeah." The muscle man replied, "You and what army?"

"That…that doesn't even make sense." Temperance said, looking around her like someone would explain that statement; luckily the kids were distracted by their project to notice the adults.

"I don't need an army pal." Booth retorted.

"Don't make me break your face in front of your kids man, why don't you just mind your own business." The man said shifting to show Booth his muscles in an attempt to intimidate him.

Booth just rolled his eyes, "Look pal, I could take you on no problem, but I'm here trying to have a good time with my family, in a…you know…family place, so why don't you back off." He paused, "Before I decide to take you in for threatening an FBI agent."

"You're FBI?" and for the first time the man looked unsure.

"Yeah pal and this is my partner that you're harassing…also happens to be my girlfriend so if you wouldn't mind backing off we'll call it a day." Booth replied.

The man looked from one partner to the other and back again, "Alright." He said holding up his hands, "I meant no harm, just looking for some beach bunnies." He added, backing up, "Have a good day agents." And with that he made his way down the lakeshore most likely in the search of other 'beach bunnies'.

"This is not a good place to find bunnies." Brennan replied watching the muscle idiot walk up to another woman walking up the beach.

"You are a beach bunny." Booth replied taking his eyes off the jerk and turning his attention to his partner, his expression softening.

"I'm not a bunny Booth, I'm a human being." She said with her trademark 'I don't know what that means' expression.

Booth couldn't help but chuckle, "It means a…very attractive woman, which is what you are. It really has nothing at all to do with bunnies."

"Well that's misleading." She said, clearly annoyed once again with a pop reference, "You also called me your girlfriend."

He frowned, "Is that okay?" leave it to him to mess up the best thing in his life in the first few hours.

Brennan frowned, "No, I mean... While I don't like the possessiveness the term implies, I find that…" she frowned, "I find that I don't mind when you say it…and with your alpha male tendencies, you said it rather possessive." Her frown deepened, "I wonder why that is, I should find it highly annoying, and yet for some reason I find it endearing." She shrugged, "Nevermind, Melanie and I have decided to make a roughly 5 foot castle with a width of 6 feet, and a mote." She said changing the topic to something she understood a little better.

Booth nodded with a small smile on his face, "Alright, let's do this." He replied rubbing his hands together, "Melanie is there another bucket for me?" Melanie nodded and passed over one of the buckets that neither child was using, "Thanks, so where do you want me?"

Melanie studied him in a way that let him know the girl probably spent a lot of time around his partner; he did his best not to squirm under her gaze. When her eyes shifted from him to the pile of sand he turned his attention to his partner…_girlfriend_…who shrugged with a grin on her face before moving back to her spot on the beach filling her pale pink bucket with sand. Melanie turned back to him decision made, "I think it would be best if you start working on the mote. Aunt Tempe and I have the bottom of the sand castle made, so just build a moat around it." She paused with a slight frown, "Only leave a little room so our court people have room to walk around without fear of falling in the alligator infested moat."

Booth nodded holding back a grin, "We couldn't want that to happen." He said, and the little girl shook her hand with such seriousness it made him wonder if this was what his partner was like as a small child. Booth knelt down in the sand, setting his green bucket aside, and began slowly marking where he would dig out the moat. When he'd made a full circle he brought it to Melanie's attention and when she smiled approvingly he dug it out. Once that was finished he grabbed his bucket and headed down to the water where he filled his bucket with wet sand.

"I see you're taking your orders from Melanie." Avery said wondering up, "Not a way to win brownie points with the doc."

Booth shook his head, "Not that I'm trying to win brownie points, but I beg to differ. I'm showing that I don't always have to be alpha and that I can listen to even the youngest members of my pack."

"You should like you're all a bunch of werewolves." Avery said with a chuckle, "I sure hope tonight isn't a full moon, even though our tents are top of the line I doubt they could withstand hungry werewolves on the prowl."

Booth rolled his eyes, "I think I liked you better when you just looked at us and left the room." He replied though his tone held no malice, truth was he was really starting to think of Avery as a friend, "You know that Bones has always harassed me about my Alpha Males tendencies."

Avery nodded, "Of course, I've found reports of your discussions rather amusing." He looked out at the water thoughtfully, "I suppose she is right, you are the alpha male."

Booth shrugged, "Yeah, that's most likely true when we're on our home turf, but here, you're the Alpha Male you don't have to worry that I'm going to try and take Tempe away from you." He said sensing there was more to Avery's musing then meeting the eye. When Avery looked at him out of the corner of his eye he knew he'd struck the correct nerve, "I know that you and Tempe spent some time in the foster system together, I bet that even though you've spent this trip locked in that library making calls, that you and Bones are close. I get that, I'm not jealous and I'm not possessive. I can share the woman I love with her family."

Avery turned to look at him fully and sighed, "I feel so dim-witted, in my mind I know that she was my 'sister' first, it's just…she's always all about _Booth and Bones_ that sometimes it's nice to hear that I still matter."

"I doubt that you could do anything that wouldn't matter, you're her brother. Her crazy, tense, and possibly slightly illegal in finding out data brother, and I don't think she would have it any other way." Booth replied.

"I assure you that everything I do is legal." Avery said with a raise of his head, and Booth heard the unspoken 'but I don't speak for those who work for me' in his tone.

Booth nodded holding up his pail, "I better get this back to my _werewolves_ I have a moat to finish so Melanie's royals are safe and sound." He grinned, "You know you could always reassert yourself as the Mead Alpha by coming and joining us."

Avery made a deep noise in his throat, "That's alright, next thing I know I'll be buried in the sand with only my head sticking out…did you ever think you'd someday be standing on the beach discussing Alpha Males?"

"Never in a million years." Was the reply.

"Just don't tell her I called you werewolves or we'll all be in for a lecture on how that isn't possible." Avery's gaze turned thoughtful, "I assume she told you about our plans for the night, maybe not in great detail, but you know that we're going idiot hunting?" Booth nodded, "Well, if you want in on the action you're more than welcome…just…don't drink the beer with the diamond on the label."

Booth raised his eyebrow, "I'm starting to think I shouldn't drink anything I haven't had in my personal possession." He retorted with a chuckle before making his way back to the 'building site'. He remolded his moat using the wet sand to keep the structure from caving in, making multiple trips for wet sand joking and chatting with the other three construction workers. When he was done Parker volunteered to go fill buckets with water and he and Melanie tore off towards the lake. Booth watched them, but stayed back with the now almost completed castle, "This is fun, and I have to admit that I've never put such an elaborate sand castle together before."

Brennan grinned, "It's fun and educational because it teaches kids patience and rewards after hard work." She held up her hands, "And what kid doesn't like to get a little dirty now and then?"

Booth looked at her for a second before a slow grin creep across his face and before she realized what was happening he had scooped her up and thrown her over his shoulder, "Well, guess that means you need to clean up." He said and started carrying her towards the lake much to her protests.

The partners' actions caught the attention of the younger Booth and his friend and they dropped their pails of water and began jumping up and down cheering the federal agent on much to Temperance's annoyance. This, in turn, caught the attention of the rest of the family who scrambled up from their various spots on the beach and they ran down to the lake some of them cheering Booth on, some of them rallying for the forensic anthropologist.

"Booth!" Brennan cried in outrage, "If you drop me in this water they will never find your body!"

Her body convulsed as Booth's shoulders shook with laughter as he stomped into the water, "Don't make terroristic threats against a federal agent, I would never drop you. I'm your partner you can trust me!"

"Then turn around right now Boo-"and that was all she got out before Booth bowed his knees sending both of them under the water. When he stood up he was laughing, and she was sputtering water, he set her down in front of him and she narrowed her eyes at him in a deathly calm voice proclaimed, "You. Are. Dead." Before launching herself at him sending them both tumbling into the water, this time when they came up Brennan turned her attention to Parker who was wading in the water nearby, "You think this is funny?" she asked and took playful menacing steps towards they younger Booth.

"No, Bones, no!" he squealed laughing using his hands to rocket water in her direction; she spun out of the way causing the spray of water to hit Chloe square in the face. Soon the entire group was splashing each other with water laughing and carrying on. They played around in the water, breaking off to swim peacefully or collect shells, as they tired out they returned to their beach towels.

Booth once again noticed the subtle exchange between the one-time foster kids, this time with a look to Marcus Brennan stood up pulling her towel around her, "You know, I think I want to hit up the gift shop, I want to get little something for my best friend Angela…and maybe check up on the lab and see how they are doing." She announced to the group.

Parker also jumped up, "Can I come? I wanted to get something for mom and…well mom." He said excitedly. Booth also stood ready to tell his son that maybe they could go later, assuming that Bones wanted to do something Christopher prank related.

"Sure." She grinned at his son, "Anyone who wants to come can come." She said, pulling her clothes on over her mostly dry swimwear. Parker and Booth pulled their T-shirts opting not to change into their street shorts since their swim shorts were basically the same thing. Dylan and Melanie also began pulling their clothes on asking Chloe for money.

"You don't mind taking the kids?" Chloe asked, reaching into her bag, but Avery waved her away handing Brennan his credit card.

"No. If they break everything in the store then we'll just use Avery's fortune to buy the whole park to escape from the shame and embarrassment they would place on our family." Temperance replied, "Wes, you want to come too?"

Her nephew shook his head, and she knew that he was thinking that he didn't have anyone to buy a souvenir for with his mother passed on and his father more of an emotional wreck then Temperance and Avery combined, "Okay, well if we see anything that screams, not literally, your name we'll pick it up."

The two adults and three children made their way back to where their bikes were and before long they were locking their bikes up on a bike rack near a gift tourism shop, "Parker and I are going to check out the little figurines to pick something out for his mom, can you handle the other two or would you like me to take them?" Booth asked.

Temperance shook her head, "No, that's alright. I'm going to turn them loose in the clothing section, if you see them in your section point them back to where they belong. I need to call Hodgins with a quick question and then I'll be in to take over." She said, "And I'll be right here so if someone tries to kidnap them..."

Booth nodded with a smile, "Alright." He said giving her a wave as they all split up.

Brennan made sure her two charges were in the designated section with strict orders not to wonder before heading back outside dialing one of a handful of familiar numbers.

_"Jack Hodgins, King of the Lab."_ Came the answer through the phone.

"Dr. Hodgins I was wondering if you had time to research the scientific question I needed answered." She said by way of greeting.

_"Oh hey Dr. B. Yeah, I managed to get that information on the sleeping aides that you requested." _Dr. Hodgins replied before giving her a list of statistics that he dug up. _"Will that work for you?"_

"Yes. Dr. Hodgins, that very good work. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy work day to find me the answers to my request." She said gratefully.

_"No problem-o Dr. B, we aren't really that busy here. Got the interns working on limbo cases, Ange is working on her paintings…same old, same old."_

"That sounds good Jack." She retorted, "I will be back sometime next week, I might take another week off, I haven't decided yet." She replied, knowing that if she did return next week she would have to wait at least another week to be assigned another case since Booth wasn't coming back for another week.

_"Sounds good Dr. B, I'm glad you're taking your time off and enjoying yourself, just remember what I said about the sleeping medication. It's addicting so you don't want to use the aides often."_

"Don't worry Jack I'm not using it on me." She replied before saying goodbye and hanging up the phone, she made her way back inside and checked to make sure the kids were still behaving before heading over to the small section of the store where they kept over-the-counter medications. She glanced at the sleeping aides on stock and after finding the one that Dr. Hodgins recommended she grabbed a package of them before making her way over to the kids, "You guys finding anything of interest?"

"Sure have! I picked out this cute pink shirt that said Acadia on it, and we got a hooded blue hooded sweatshirt for Wes, and Dylan picked out a green one for him." Melanie said in excitement, "We were about to go find Parker to see what color he wanted."

"That's really nice of you to include Parker." Brennan replied, proud of the children in her family.

"Well he's our best friend, and he's going to be our cousin soon right?" the young girl asked innocently.

Temperance let out a nervous laugh, "Why does everyone think that?"

"Think what?" Booth's voice sounded from behind her and she spun around to see his curious face.

"Na-nothing." She replied turning a nice shade of pink, "We were just wondering what color shirt Parker would like, all the kids are getting some."

"Mmhmm." Was her only reply from her partner.

"I like the yellow one." Parker said, turning to his dad, "Can I get one, dad, please?"

"Sure buddy." Booth said before reaching into his pocket and pulling out his wallet, "How about you kids go get some candy, make sure you pick out some for Wes." He said handing Parker a twenty dollar bill.

"Alright!" the trio of kids squealed before running off to the candy section.

"Walk please!" Brennan called helplessly after them before turning her attention back to Booth crossing her arms, "When they don't sleep for the next month…let's just say what we do to Christopher tonight will be just a good dream in your world of nightmares."

Booth frowned after the kids, "We're in a tourist shop where they hop up prices of things to make a few bucks, they can't really get that much with a twenty right?" he asked.

Brennan let out a laugh, "I guess we'll find out."

"I did it for a good cause." He said in his defense.

"Feeding the hungry? There are better choices than that." She said playfully.

Booth rolled his eyes taking a step closer and pulling her into his arms, "I did it for a few minutes alone with my girlfriend."

Brennan pursed her lips, "I guess then the consequences you're going to have to deal with tonight are going to be worth it." She said with a laugh putting her arms loosely around his neck, "Well Special Agent Seeley Booth, what _do_ you plan to do with your precious overly-priced minutes alone?"

"For starters…" he said leaning down and capturing her lips with his own, when they pulled away they were both breathless, "And then…" followed b another quick kiss.

"I like the way you think Mr. Booth." She said with a laugh, pulling away from him, "Let's go see what you're twenty dollars is costing you in sleep time."

Booth groaned but wouldn't trade his few minutes alone with Bones for anything, "Alright, alright." He said with a chuckle trailing behind the doctor.

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Wooooo, who made it to 4000 words? This girl! Sorry for the delay in updating. And _HammieHamHam_ your reviews crack me up, you aren't pesky and yes this was begging to be updated. However, I don't understand what you meant by "This is on the second page" It's been bugging me for days! What did you mean? I'm sorry to call you out like this, but you are a guest so I can't reply back…**

**Anywho, we're getting closer to the Christopher revenge and the S'mores, I've been saving chapters on my computer with "….and smores" for a few chapters and have yet to get to them. Argh! Soon.**

**Also, does anyone know if I delete a file from my document manager if it will delete it from my story as well?**

**As always thanks for all the reviews. Laters!**


	16. Running, and Tent Negotiations

**Back again! Don't own them, don't own anything. I own gum but don't tell anyone, it's like a moth to a flame announcing something like that!  
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The partners and the trio of kids got back to the beach and met up with the rest of their party who had already worked on packing up their beach supplies. Avery's girlfriend, Samantha, had finally caught up with the gang too, and true to Temperance's words had brought some things the group had forgotten, or things that they deemed necessary for their prank.

"Uncle Booth got us **candy**!" Dylan announced to the group running towards his mother who had stopped what she was doing to glare at the FBI agent in question.

"You are so not my favorite person right now." Chloe retorted.

"Oh like you aren't going to fill them full with marshmallows and chocolate later." He replied grabbing some of the bags and hefting them up intent on carrying them down the trail back to the bikes.

"Speaking of S'mores…" Avery broke in the conversation, "Let's just say if I end up with marshmallow in my hair someone is getting fed to the sharks."

Christopher rolled his eyes, "You're all talk, but you know you love me and you're not going to hurt me in any way."

"At least we all know that it's you he's referring too." Booth replied, "Come on let's get to the bikes, we have a bit of a ride to get back to the bike return and to the ferry to get back to island, and I don't know about you guys but I'm hungry."

"He could eat a horse." Parker interjected with a giggle and a nudge in Bones side, "Isn't that right."

Brennan smiled down fondly at the younger Booth, "That is correct; he could eat a horse and probably drink the ocean."

"I can't help but notice that the two of you are making fun of me." Booth said taking a taunting step towards the pair, "That's not something I take lightly too." He took another step, the bags in his arms finding their way on to the ground, "I'm just saying…" another step, "You'd better run."

The doctor and child looked at each other before taking off running down the trail, "Run Bones! If we can get to the bikes we can outride him! We'll take the keys!"

Brennan laughed; "We don't even have the keys" she called back, making sure to take small steps to keep the same pace with the younger person running next to her. "We'll have to run all the way to the boat at this rate." She paused and grabbed him under the arm using the momentum to easily pull him into her arms.

"Bones!" he let out a laughing shriek wrapping his arms around the doctor's neck.

Brennan slowed her steps even more to balance the added weight, knowing full well that Booth wasn't even chasing them yet. She turned and headed into the woods a few paces before setting the boy down, "Come on Parker." She said taking his small hand in hers, "We'll walk out this way; it'll take him a few minutes to figure it out."

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"Are you planning going to go after them?" Christopher asked watching his sister and Parker run off down the trail leading away from the lake.

"I'm giving them a head start." Booth replied picking up the bags he previously discarded, "I'm letting them think they can outrun me."

Avery nodded, "That's what a good father would do, let his son think he has a chance instead of always beating him down." And the tone in his voice made Booth think he was thinking about his own past, "Come on, let's start going down or they'll be halfway to New Hampshire."

The gang made their way down the trail, when they got to the parking area they started to load their items Booth kept his eyes trained on the area around him expecting his family to jump out at him. When they had everything packed up he started to get an uneasy feeling and scanned the vehicles around them hoping for a view of the duo. "You don't think…"

"ARRRRRRRRR" came a battle cry from behind him and he found a small body attached to his lower half. "Got you! Say it dad! Say Bones and I got you!"

Booth laughed relief flooding through him, "You got me." He reached behind him and pulled the kid off his legs, "Where is Bones?" bringing his son into his view who pointed behind him and Booth spun around needing to see her too. When he saw her calmly looking at him he pulled her to him, "Bones." He said breathlessly.

"Booth." She said from the curve of his shoulder, pushing against him, "What is wrong?"

Booth shook his head, burying his face in her hair, breathing her in, "Bones, I didn't know where you were. I couldn't stop my stupid Alpha Male predisposition that made me think the worst."

"Booth, we were standing by that tree." She said pulling away and pointing to a tree on the outlines of the parking area, "Right there."

Booth shook his head, "Doesn't matter, I'm always going to worry about you and I'm always going to worry about my son. I'm starting to worry about Christopher and if he'll end up buried in some foreign country."

Brennan sighed letting her hands slide around his waist, "Booth, that's one of the things I love about you, don't apologize for being who you are." She said letting him take comfort in the feel of holding them before pulling away and glancing at her family who were watching on with interest, "What?" she called over to them, "Like you've never scared the living daylights out of someone."

Booth chuckled fully releasing the two, "I'm surprised you aren't going into a scientific rant on that saying."

Brennan shrugged, "Daylights refers to someone's eyes a saying that has been used since the early 18th century, late 17th century." She said with a grin, "And living daylights being used to mean someone's life force or conscience started popping up early 19th century. It's a very common phrase. Usually used in the phrase 'beating the living daylights out of someone', however, we didn't beat you we scared you."

Booth held up his hands, "Alright, alright." He said in mock surrender, and neither partner noticed the exchange of glances from the rest of the party and the not so hidden smirks. "So let's get going, I'm still hungry."

Temperance laughed, "We'd better get going we need to feed the FBI agent."

They all rode back to the bike rental, the women unloading their belongings from the travel trailers, the men returning the bikes to their rightful places, when that was all done they met up at the dock for the ferry. Together the loaded onto the ferry wondering around the boat finding places to sit for the half hour ride to the Isle au Haut.

Booth and Brennan found seats by the front of the boat using the bottom bar on the railing to prop their feet up and relax, "I've had fun today." Booth said with a sigh, "I'm sorry about the whole thinking you went missing thing, I've probably made it known to everyone in your family that we're seeing each other."

"We always see each oth- oh, you mean that we've entered a relationship." Brennan replied with a shrug, "Oh well, it's not like we were never going to disclose that information, it just means we don't get to see if they have anything else up their sleeves for us."

Booth looked over at her, "And you don't care if they know?"

Brennan met his stare, "No, Booth I don't care if they know, why are you so worried about me telling anyone or not? Do you want them to not know?"

Booth shook his head, "No, I want everyone to know…I would like it if we took this slow, I mean, maybe tell Angela in a couple of weeks. I love her; don't get me wrong, it's just that Angela has a way of…"

"Trying to make sure everyone is happy and offering her opinions and helpful hints even if you don't want them?" she supplemented after he trailed off. "So we don't tell everyone right away, I'm okay with that, but I don't want to hide you either. I'm not ashamed of us, if anyone has a right to be ash-"

"Don't even finish that train of thought." Booth said seriously taking her hand, "This is you and me, Booth and Bones, we're equals no one is ashamed of anything we just want what's ours to be ours for a little bit before everyone buts in and tries to offer their helpful hints, and we aren't telling Sweets until we absolutely have too, I want to see that kid cry when he's the last to know."

"That seems a little harsh Booth." Brennan said with a disapproving frown.

He shook his head angrily, "He was supposed to tell you that I wasn't dead, so I think it's a mildly good trade off, plus a little payback, and maybe ignoring him for the next month or so."

"Booth." She said using her shoulder to nudge his shoulder, "I agreed to a little pranking, do you really have to ignore his presence? What if we need his soft science experience on the job?"

"Then we'll ask Caroline to ask for information." He said childishly.

"She wouldn't like that very much, I'd much rather deal with a murderer than deal with the wrath of Caroline." she retorted, "But it's up to you, just leave me out of it."

Booth rolled his eyes dropping his arm casually around her shoulders, "Alright, so we won't use Caroline, I'll just ignore him when it doesn't pertain to a case, which is what I do most of the time anyway."

Laughing she turned her attention to the four children sitting in the middle of the ferry faces and hands deep into a surprising big bag of candy. "You're so no going to be the favorite of this family." She said with a deep chuckle.

Booth followed her eye line and groaned, "They are going to be running around the campgrounds all night, it's a good thing Avery rented the whole campsite otherwise we'd probably have some angry people on our hands."

Temperance smiled, "Not our hands, we'd feed you to the dogs and go to bed."

"Wow, Bones, just wow." Booth said with mock disappointment, "After all we've been through you'd let some angry campers attack me."

"You're the one who supplied the children with the means to get all that candy." She pointed out, leaning into him.

"Way to be a good partner." He said with a pout, tightening his arm around her letting her know he was just being lighthearted. "What do you think my chances are to being not convicted to a life on the run from Avery tonight?"

Brennan looked over at her foster brother who was chatting with Marcus and Gail, "Nah, I think he likes you."

"And how do you know that?" he asked turning his attention to her once more.

"Because he hasn't used his connections to have you sent on some important trip of something." She said with a laugh and at Booth's expression she placed a hand on his arm, "I'm just kidding, he wouldn't do that, he'd let you know if he didn't like you by telling you to get lost."

Booth shook his head, "Well I guess I must have passed something since he hasn't told me to leave."

"Doesn't matter, I wouldn't let him tell you to go." She said turning a coy smile to him, "I like Parker too much."

"Beat out by my own son." Booth said placing a hand to his heart, "I'm glad that the two of you get along so well, from the very beginning he's never taken to anyone the way he has to you. I think…I think he knew that you were the one too."

Brennan turned to glance at the younger Booth before turning her glaze to her partner, "I'm glad the two of you think so."

Booth gave her shoulders a squeeze, "We don't think, we know." He grinned, "You're stuck with us, and we'll follow you to the end of the earth now."

"The world is round." Bone said, "Therefore it doesn't end."

"You know what I meant." He said rolling his eyes, "Be nice to me, or you'll be getting some of those special pills you bought for Christopher."

Brennan leaned away from him, crossing her arms, "Oh really? You really want to play that game with me?"

Booth studied her, "You know what I would like to know? I'd like to know how you got Hodgins to get you that information without wondering if you were on a case or something."

Brennan grinned, "I can't tell you." She said with a mysterious edge to her tone, "I'm just kidding, let's just say that sometimes I get my ideas from the…experiments…that don't always go so right in the lab."

Booth's jaw dropped, "You're kidding me! You and Hodgins are pulling credulous pranks around the lab aren't you!"

Brennan shook her head, "I can neither confirm or deny what goes on in that lab to a federal agent." She said with a saucy grin. "Besides you might tell Cam and then we'd be in trouble, she'd probably take away my 'freebies' and Dr. Hodgins experimenting rights."

Booth shook his head, "So far the things that go on in the lab are never life threatening, who am I to get in the way of a couple of squints having a good time."

Once the ferry made it to the boat landing, the group progressed off the boat and started walking the trail to their camping sites. The kids starting out beside the adults soon found themselves more in front gripping about how slow the old people were. The old people, Marcus and Abigail, took great offense to the statement and soon the 'middle aged' adults were watching a race between old and young.

"If Marcus pops a hip, I'm not helping to carry him." Chloe said with an eye roll calling ahead, "Dylan! Make sure you watch where you're going."

"If he falls and breaks his face open you can always blame _Uncle Booth_" Christopher smirked.

Chloe grinned, "That's true Dylan was quick to rat you out. When I wake up cranky tomorrow Agent Blockhead, it's you I'm coming after!"

Brennan shook her head, "That's Special Agent Blockhead to you."

Booth chuckled, "You know, Bones and I can watch the kids tonight, it wouldn't be a problem, and it's my fault if they don't sleep."

"Are you kidding I'm going to have them sneak into Christopher's tent late in the night, I have plans for these kids. Besides, it's not like they weren't going to have a bunch of sugar tonight anyway, and in any case they wouldn't all fit in your Nemo Losi 3P, nope it's got nothing on my Big Agnes."

The group rounded a corner on the trail the campsites coming into view, and up ahead they caught sight of the children and grandparents having stopped their race and walking the rest of the short distance. "You're probably one of the only people I know who refers to tents by their brand names instead of just saying 'my tent is bigger than your tent'." Booth grinned at his girlfriend's 'sister'.

Chloe shrugged, "My tent _is_ bigger than your tent."

They regrouped with the rest of the family in the center of all the campsites, "Let's finish getting the tents ready for the night, and then Avery and Marcus can start the steak and potatoes, I'll work on the roasted bananas." Abigail said taking charge.

The gang all agreed with the mother-like figure all moving towards their own tents. Booth and his brood made it to their tent on the end of the row of sites, "I'll blow up the air mattress." Booth said moving to reach in the tent and grab the items he needed to do so. "I've never thought to bring an air mattress camping, it's save my back though."

Brennan grinned, "I imagine it's different than either of us are used to, with you being in the army and me going on science expeditions, it will be strange to sleep in a tent but have almost the comfort of a bed."

Parker sighed sitting down on the wooden flooring that wasn't covered by the tent.

"What's the matter Bub?" Booth asked looking over at his son while trying to figure out with end of the battery operated pump hooked to the air mattress.

"Nothing." Parker said with another sigh, "Only. I mean…I love you, and I love Bones…but…all the other kids get to sleep together…" he trailed off with another sigh.

Brennan looked up from moving their belongs around in the tent so the air mattress would fit in, having just put everything in before leaving for the bike ride, "Parker, I'm sure that Chloe wouldn't mind you sleeping in the kids tent with her, there is plenty of room. If you want I can go ask her."

Parker's expression immediately lightened, "Really?" he asked eagerly before turning to look to his father, "Can Dr. Bones ask? Would that be okay with you? Please?"

Booth looked from his son to his girlfriend and shrugged, "As long as it's okay with Chloe its okay with me." He replied going back to his project, his skin crawling with excitement and nerves at the prospect of having a tent alone with his new girlfriend. Sure, he'd spent the night alone with his partner before but never before did he have the freedom to kiss her, to hold her, to let her know that he loved her. And she loved him back.

Brennan nodded finishing up what she was doing before standing, "Alright, I'll go talk to her." She said moving away from the campsite walking the path along the other sites until she came to the one where her unofficial sister was ordering the children around, "You're placing your sleeping bags where you plan to sleep and then they are staying there. I'm not going to tell you again I don't want you kids waking me up in the middle of the night because one of you stole the other's spot."

Brennan grinned walking over to Chloe, "Sounds like you are preparing for a fight."

"More like trying to prevent one from happening." Chloe retorted turning to give her daughter the 'mother look' before turning back to Temperance, "Did the boys kick you out of the set up?"

"No." Temperance replied, "I'm actually here because Parker was wondering if he could stay with the rest of the kids tonight. I'll understand if you don't want him to, we don't mind having him stay with us of course…"

"No, no!" Chloe cut in waving her hand in dismissal, "What's one more kid? Besides it's not really fair to keep one kid from the kid tent, and I love that little kid."

"He is easy to love." Brennan replied absentmindedly, "I guess I'll go have Parker grab his things and send him back down. Thanks a lot Chloe; this will mean a lot to Parker." She added before turning and making the short trip back to her campsite, "Okay Parker, pack up your things, you're staying in the kids' tent."

Parker let out a whoop of excitement ducking into the tent and grabbing his bag before turning to the doctor and throwing his arms around her, "Thanks Bones!" he said before doing the same ceremony with his father, "Thanks Dad!" he turned back to the bones lady, "Come on!"

Brennan exchanged glances with Booth laughing before turning her attention back to the younger Booth, "Come on, I'll walk you down, you do know that if you need anything you can come back here, but you have to tell Chloe and she'll bring you back, when it gets dark out it can be disorienting." She said as they made their way back to the campsite the kids were claiming as their own.

"I know Bones!" the boy could barely contain his excitement, a bounce in his every step, "This is going to be so much fun!"

When she returned to the campsite, this time with Parker in tow, the children let up a cheer glad that their new friend was joining their party. "Are you sure you are okay with this?" Temperance asked watching the kids pull Parker inside the large tent to claim a spot for his sleeping bag.

"I'm sure like I said what is one more kid going to do?" She said with an eye roll, "Besides this will give you time to see what a stud that man of yours is."

Brennan raised her eyebrows, "You know, you and my friend Angela would get along just great, you'll have to come up to D.C. sometime and meet her." She shook her head, "And leave off about Booth and I, we're just partners."

Chloe rolled her eyes, "If that's what you two want to keep telling yourself. Go help Gail with the roasted bananas or something Ms. Denial."

"If you say so." It was Brennan's turn to roll her eyes before she turned on heel and went to the fire pit to offer her assistance to the Pines.

"I'm glad you're here you can split the banana's and I'll drizzle the honey." Abigail said with a smile, "We haven't got a chance to really talk, how is your father doing?"

"He's good." Brennan said, "You know Max, and I think he's staying out of trouble. Russ too, keeping clean for that family he has now."

Marcus nodded, putting the steak into the marinating sauce, "That's good, I'm glad that they are back in your life trying to make up for lost time." He paused in his preparations, "Now about this Booth fellow."

This time Temperance's gaze turned defensive, "What about my partner?"

"Relax Xena." Marcus said, and at Brennan's confused look he shook his head, "Nevermind, I'm just saying relax I know that you're guarded but I'm not going to say anything bad about him. In fact, I really like him, I think that you need to get over whatever is standing in your way and start a life with him."

"Booth and I do have a life together." Brennan said crossing her arms, "We have one of the highest solve rates in the FBI."

Marcus shook his marinating two pronged fork at her causing sauce to fly off in different directions, "That's not what I meant and you know it." He said with a gruff expression, "I'm just saying that you." He used the prong to point at her, "need to come to your senses that he is a good man and he cares for you. Hell, I think he even loves you, and I know that you feel something for him too."

Brennan shrugged, "Maybe I do, but that doesn't mean I should do something about it, we work together."

"And I know that, but that's not what's really holding you back, I know you, you're worried that he's going to realize that you aren't good enough or that there is something wrong with you and he'll leave." Marcus said, "But you have to realize that there is nothing wrong with you." Abigail chimed in with a 'nothing' enforcing her husband's statement, "He has a code of honor and if he tells you he isn't going to leave he's not going too, and even if he didn't…the way he looks at you…you'd have to have one of your brothers drug him and leave him in a desert somewhere while you change your name and more to some uninhabited location. Even then he would probably find you."

Brennan laughed, "You're probably right." She used her hand to move the accusing prong out of her direction, "Thank you."

Marcus shrugged slightly embarrassed, "Well, I just don't want anyone telling any of you kids that you aren't worth it." The fork once again directed at her, "Even if it's yourself telling you that."

"I-"

"Is this a stick up?" Booth asked joining the group eyebrow raised as he noticed Marcus pointing the grilling tool at his girlfriend and partner.

"A stick up what?" Brennan asked.

Marcus laughed going back to his marinating, "If it was a stick up then I probably should have planned it better. Rob her when she had more expenses on her."

"I have Avery's credit card." Brennan chimed in with a frown before going back to prepping the bananas for roasting.

Booth looked at her fondly for a second before turning to Marcus clapping his hands together, "Alright, what can I do to help?"

Marcus studied him before smiling, "Can you man a grill?"

"I can man it, and build it." Booth replied getting a questioning look from Marcus.

"Booth shot a clown and it resulted in him having to go to see a psychiatrist who he helped make a grill for." Brennan supplied.

"I didn't shoot a clown." Booth protested, "I shot a clown head…on an ice cream truck."

Marcus laughed, "You don't have to explain." He said

"Avery" Both men supplied together knowing that Avery had learned about this incident and no doubt told the family about it.

"How about you start grilling these steaks," Marcus continued on passing the grilling tongs over to the other man, "The adult steaks need to cook a little longer, we have steak strips for the kids." He said using his grilling fork to point to the strips of raw meat on his plate that he had yet to marinate.

Booth nodded talking the tool and adding a few slabs of Steak onto the camping grill, watching Brennan move from cutting bananas up to making a salad, "This is a good time; I'm going to be sad to see it end."

Marcus looked up with a wide grin, "Well, actually we're staying for another week…Brennan said something about you taking two weeks off. Maybe if you can convince her to take another week off…"

"Stop pestering Booth." Brennan chimed in without looking up from her task.

Marcus shrugged with a pout, "I was just suggesting it." He went back to his marinating not catching the two women's laughing glancing.

They worked in a comfortable silence, when Avery arrived Booth relinquished the grilling tongs to him and moving along the table picking up a spare knife and cutting up a green pepper for the salad, "We can stay if you'd like." Booth said quietly to Brennan.

She glanced up at him before turning her attention to the carrot she was peeling and chopping up, "I wouldn't want to take away from your time with Parker, besides if you spend too much time here you might realize that everyone belongs in a mental institution."

Booth chuckled softly, "What makes you think I didn't already draw that conclusion?" causing her to laugh in return, "Besides, Parker is having a great time, and we're doing things together too, so…think about it, we still have a few days so you don't have to decide right away, but if you want to just know that I don't have an issue with it."

"What are you two whispering about over here?" Abigail returned to the table after grabbing drinks for everyone.

"Just discussing which scary stories we're going to share tonight." Booth said with his trademark grin, "I figure if Chloe is going to kill me for the candy, she might as well really go after me for terrorizing the children."

Once the smell of dinner made its way around the forest the rest of their assemblage congregated to the area and the noise level grew as they all chatted together. The kids helping out to set the picnic tables with dinnerware, adults placing the food on the table, they ate dinner together chatting about anything and everything.

When they finished eating they split off into groups going back to their tents to prepare for the evening of S'mores and campfires stories. Booth and Brennan made the track back up to their site on the end. "I was serious about staying you know, but I don't want to push you into something you don't want to do."

Brennan smiled up at him, "I know I just don't know if it would be best to stay another week. I still have my book to work on, and you need to spend time with your son who is currently spending time with children who aren't his father."

Booth chuckled, "Well, I would hope none of those children were his father!" he joked slinging his arm around her shoulder, "But like I said, Parker and I can spend time together here, you can work on your book at home. Or we can go home at the end of the week and Parker and I will still probably show up at your door and distract you from writing your book."

Temperance rolled her eyes, "We'll talk about it later, and I guess I have no problems staying either if you're still going to harass me at home stopping me from getting any work done."

"Bones you can't take a vacation off of work to work!" he retorted.

Brennan rolled her eyes at his logic and frowned, "I don't know why we all went back to our tents when we are just going to end up back at the same spot to make S'mores."

"I think it was an attempt for everyone to rest after the day's activities." He glanced at the tent, "Are you going to be okay with sharing a tent with me? I mean, I can go bunk with Avery or Christopher or something."

Brennan shook her head, "We've shared sleeping quarters plenty of times while on cases."

"That's true, but we weren't a couple then." He retorted, "I just don't want you to be uncomfortable and…"

"Run." She supplied when he trailed off, at his nod she took his head, "Booth, I'm not going to run. While I don't have much…if any…experiences with relationships, I do know that running isn't the answer now that I've committed myself to making this…" she gestured between them, "…work."

"I am okay with sharing a tent with you." She continued, "Just don't think I'm going to have sexual intercourse with you."

Booth sputtered, "I wasn't thinking that at all!" his voice an octave higher than usual, "First off, you're whole family is here and it's a mood killer to have to be conscience of noise level. Secondly, our first time isn't going to be on the hard ground. And third, don't call it that."

"We have an air mattress, and that is what it's called." She retorted, "Would coitus work better for you?"

Booth shook his head, "No, it's making love Bones. You and I, it's going to be making love." He said a slight flush covering his face but his expression serious, "It's going to be different for you and me."

"Because we love each other." She said bluntly.

"Correct."

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Because I hate to be on the second page! Lol. Reviews are always loved, I'll see you soon!**


	17. And then there were Smores

**For some strange reason I had ****_'This is the song that never ends'_**** stuck in my head since yesterday so at work I shared it with everyone I came in contact with. Mwhahaha. **

**I don't own them.  
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Booth ended up on the air mattress alone; Temperance, having smuggled her laptop onto the camping trip, sat in the corner of the three walled camp enclosure just outside the tent typing away. The gentle tapping of the keys lulling Booth in between a state of consciousness and awareness, he tossed back the covers tying unsuccessfully for the past 30 minutes to try to get some quick shut eye. Opening the partially closed tent flap he bowed his body and stepped out making his way around the tent to where his partner sat, "Please tell me that Kathy and Andy are about to take a nap."

Brennan looked up startled, "Why would they do that?"

Booth sighed, lowering his body down to the hard floor, "Because then maybe their creator will also take a nap with her dashing boyfriend."

Brennan watched him for a moment before tapping a few keys and shutting the lid on the laptop, "Alright."

"Alright?" Booth asked startled.

"Well they aren't taking a nap, they're in the middle of…well, they are too busy to be going to sleep, it would be rather rude for either of them to doze off." She replied.

"You mean to tell me that as your boyfriend I still can't get the inside details?" he asked with a mock pout.

Temperance grinned, "That's not the way it works." She concealed a laugh, "Boyfriend makes you sound like a teenager, it makes me feel old I think."

"I am not a teenager and you aren't old, it's not my fault that the terms of significant others are so…juvenile." Booth came back with.

"That is true." Brennan concluded moving to stand and reaching out her hand which Booth took and gently used her to help him off the ground, "Come on, let's go lay down before someone screams their hair is on fire."

Booth winced, "That's the second time someone has mentioned hair, and I'm beginning to think it would be better to stay in the tent while S'mores are being made."

Bones laughed pulling him along after her making their way back into the tent, "It happened years ago, none of the children were even born yet." She put her laptop back in it's case before setting it with the rest of their belongings.

"Oh, I didn't think that any of the kids were responsible, I have my money…metaphoric money…on it being Christopher who set Avery's hair on fire with a marshmallow." He said with a chuckle dropping down on the bed and watching her come and join him on the free side.

"That is what happened, but to be fair we were young. Avery and I were spending our first camping trip with the family and neither of us were feeling particularly like joining in the 'festivities'." She stated moving the blankets around until she was situated comfortably underneath them, "Christopher thought that if he made a big show of making 'the world's best S'mores' then we would join in. Only in his grand production he started flailing the stick around with an ignited marshmallow on the end, the marshmallow flew off the stick…"

"And landed in Avery's hair." Booth finished with a grin and got a nod in return, "What did Avery do?"

Brennan bit her lip and he knew she was deciding if she should tell him or not, he didn't want to make her choice between her loyalties and opened his mouth to tell her just that when she answered, "I threw my drink at him." She grinned slowly, "Soda right to the face, it put the fire out and Avery stopped mid 'drop and roll' got up, looked at me calmly, looked at Christopher, looked at the fire before getting up off the ground and going directly into his tent. We all sat silently for a moment waiting to see what would happen, and then I realized that he wasn't coming back out so I went to see what he was doing."

"He was lying down in the tent with his sleeping bag pulled over his head. I sat down on the ground next to him; having come from the same foster care system we kind of trusted each other, more then we trusted the people outside the tent. We talked about what we were doing in the woods with these people who took us out of the system, and that was also the first time we discussed foreign burials. We shared our ideas of the future together, he about wanted to be a successful businessman, and my interest in anthropology. About twenty minutes after entering the tent we both walked out and rejoined the group, Avery met Christopher's hesitant stare and asked that this time the marshmallow be delivered with a piece of chocolate and graham crackers preferably on a plate."

"And that's the story of how to boys became brothers?" Booth asked.

Brennan shook her head, "No, that's the story of how Christopher made it through campfire time, and how he woke up with a squirrel in his tent."

Booth laughed, "Okay, okay. I need to go make sure Avery is going to be on my side. It sounds dangerous to cross him."

Temperance smiled, "He does come up with the best ideas, would you like to know what our plan for Christopher is?"

Booth made himself comfortable under the covers and nodded, "Alright lay it on, just know if anything illegal goes on that I'm going to have to pretend to take a bathroom break or something."

"We aren't doing anything illegal." She assured him before launching into their plan for Christopher.

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"…a sheet of darkness covered the world, thunder looming in the distance. They sat huddled together in the far end of the shallow cave and that's when they heard…"

"CHRISTOPHER!" Chloe's outraged voice filled the new couple's ears as they made their way back to the common area a while later, "So help me if these kids wake up tonight screaming they're spending the night in your tent with _you_."

"It's not even dark outside." Christopher pouted turning his attention back to the youngest members of the group, "You guys weren't scared were you?" a not-so-sure chorus of 'no's sounded, "There see, it's fine."

"Someone's in trouble." Temperance grinned, "Also a sheet of darkness wouldn't cover the world, different time zones. You know how it's day in one part of the world and night at others." She added like she was talking down to Christopher, and Booth caught on that while she was technically talking down to him, there was also a teasing tone mixed in.

"To-ma-toe, to-mah-to" was the reply.

Brennan shook her head but let it go moving around the circle of chairs until she found a free seat next to Abigail, "I'm so ready for a good S'more."

"I'm ready for a good night's rest." Abigail replied, "I've had such a fun eventful day, that I'm counting the hours until it's time to go to bed, I'm making it official that it's Boys Breakfast Hour tomorrow and the women get to sleep in." the women in the group nodded in agreement.

"So fish for breakfast?" Booth asked with a grin which was met with laughter and nods of agreement from the men and groans from the women, some of the kids laughed while others made gagging noises.

"Next time, Dear, you should also make it known that fish isn't on the menu."Marcus told his wife, "Men get to decide what's for breakfast since we're making it and we're making fish like a real camping experience. Maybe we can find some seaweed for Samantha and Temperance."

The two vegetarians in question exchanged glances and groaned, "No, that's okay, we can handle breakfast ourselves." Samantha said with a grimace.

"Nope, no girls in the boy's club." Booth said but turned his 'Bones Only' grin onto this partner, "However for you two I'll make a nice fruit salad, I believe I saw all the makings in the cooler…"

Brennan grinned, "You would be correct, there is plenty of fruit and while fish is good for you, you could all do with eating a little more fruit."

"Men were made to eat meat." Christopher said, sticking his chest out and playfully using his fists to beat on it like a caveman.

Rolling her eyes she opened her mouth to counter claim when Avery cut in, "As much as I love a little battle of wills with my S'mores, I'm more interested in the dessert, a little storytelling and then I have to agree with Gail and say that hitting the sack sounds like a magnificent idea."

Chloe jumped up at that and handed all the kids sticks, and she and Samantha hovered in the background to offer help if any of them needed it. The adults left to their own devices helped themselves to roasting sticks putting marshmallows on the end, and soon there were plenty of marshmallows cooking in the fire.

"I'm just saying you need to be ready to duck." Avery said sitting on the other side of Booth, "And if you happen to get caught with a face full of flaming 'mallow you don't turn to Temperance for assistance, you just don't do it."

"I already told him the story behind the marshmallow incident." Brennan chimed in watching her marshmallow cook with her scientist eye. Squinting at it like it was one of her bones under inspection she determined that it was time to rotate sides, "He knows all about your soda and marshmallow night…and about the squirrel."

"I'm curious to know how you managed to capture a wild rodent and put it in his tent." Booth added, not using Brennan's approach of perfectly cooking each side and just sticking his speared marshmallow low in the fire.

"Oh, that wasn't too hard, I used a trail of nuts and…marshmallows." He said with a mischievous grin causing most of the group to laugh, with the exception of Christopher who seemed to be still smarting from the incident that happened so long ago.

"**Flame On!**" came a shout of excitement a few moments later from Christopher and Booth watched with amusement and horror as the older members of the group seemed to duck out of the way waiting for something to fall out of the sky. As he debated whether he should look up or just go with the majority of the group he caught sight of a ball of orange waving frantically out of the corner of his eye and saw Christopher waving his blazing ball of sugar around.

"Chris! Stop waving that around!" Booth said, and the other man slowed his actions before coming to a complete stop, "Just blow on it, waving that around like that is going to get one of the kids burnt then you'll be in a world of hurt by everyone here."

Properly reprimanded Christopher blew on his marshmallow that was overly burnt by now with a pout on his face, "Man, I can't hit someone with a marshmallow twice no one has that bad of luck."

"For some reason I think that you might just be gifted with that type of bad luck." Booth said with a grin, pulling his marshmallow out of the fire while it was a nice almost blackened state. Moving to the table where the graham crackers and chocolate were set out he noticed that Temperance was putting her S'more together as neatly as she would anything else in her lab. He reached around her getting his items and purposely brushing up against her causing her to lose her focus and turn a mock glare at him, "Are you planning to eat that or just stare at it?"

"I'm waiting for the marshmallow to properly melt the chocolate, thirty seconds is a good waiting time. Not only with the chocolate be nicely melted, but I won't burn my mouth trying to eat something I've just taken out of the fire." She said matter-of-factly.

Booth slapped his S'more together and took a big bite out of it and making a show of chewing it with an exaggerated movement. At her horror-struck expression he grinned not caring that his teeth were more than likely covered with bits of chocolate and graham cracker. "Sits ood eee!"

"What?" she asked with a slightly amused expression.

"It's good! See!" he repeated, and as if to prove his point took another large bite.

Bones rolled her eyes and used her index finger to brush some crumbs from his face, "You're making a mess Special Agent Booth." She said before grabbing her chocolate treat and retreated back to her chair.

Booth however was momentarily stunned by the display of affection whether she was aware of it or not and stood rooted to the ground staring after her.

"You're either too afraid to go back to the chair with Christopher roasting another marshmallow or you're staring after Tempe." Avery said in his usual quiet voice sauntering up next to him and rummaging through the table to make his own sweet concoction, "I'm going to assume that because you're staring at her, that it's the second one and not the first one. So my question is what are you waiting for?"

Booth turned his gaze to Avery and shrugged, "Who says that I need to rush anything?"

Avery grinned, "I suppose another six or seven years should be right around you're pace."

"Oh, ha. Ha." Booth said with an eye roll, "Who said that I'm waiting?" he replied before taking a final bite of his treat and moving to sit next to his partner and girlfriend, "I don't know about you but I'm making another one." He said to her, spearing another marshmallow with his campfire stick.

She grinned, "I would imagine that you would have two or three more." She said sweetly, "Is it better than pie?"

Booth shook his head eyes on the cooking ball of sugar, "No way, nothing beats a good slice of pie and all that delicious cooked fruit in the center."

Parker laughed, "That's funny because Dr. Bones doesn't like cooked fruit." He said in case anyone in the group didn't know that about the scientist, "But that's okay, because everyone is different."

"That's right Bub." Booth replied, "Some of us are brilliant beautiful people who just happen to be weird because they don't like their pie cooked."

"Hey!" Brennan said in disparaging offence.

"You know, I'm not sure I like being called weird." Abigail added in a serious tone.

"You don't like cooked fruit either?" Parker asked innocently.

"Oh no, I completely agree with Temperance, fruit should not be cooked. It loses all its juices and its…it's just not natural."

"I meant weird in a loveable way." Booth interjected turning slightly pink.

Abigail exchanged glances before laughing, "It's quite alright Seeley, I've been called weird a lot in my lifetime, and I have to say that when you say it it's one of the nicest times the term has been applied."

Brennan lay her hand on his arm smiling at the look on his face, "Relax, she's being serious. She might not have been 'playing with dead things' in her childhood, but Ms. Abigail certainly has her reasons for being weird. You sure do know how to make us feel good about our weirdness though." She grinned.

He studied her face reading her emotions that were always easy for him to understand her, "That's because there is nothing wrong with being weird…a little something wrong with not liking cooked fruit though."

Brennan laughed, "Says the man who wears crazy striped socks and a 'cocky' belt buckle."

"You like my belt buckle and socks, you said they were 'Boothy'" he reminded her, pulling his marshmallow out of the fire and looking at it, deciding it wasn't ready yet he put it back in the flames, "Just keep that in mind when you're insulting my socks Missy."

"If you say so." She retorted with another round of laughter much to the amusement of the rest of the group who watched the small exchange with barely veiled interest.

They sat around the campfire for a little while more sharing stories that were less frightening than the one that Christopher tried to get away with, enjoying the refreshments and the company. Abigail and Marcus were the first to leave, calling it a night. Chloe put her foot down deciding that the kids had had enough chocolate and sugar goodness for the night and declared bedtime, Christopher taking her cue walked her and the kids down the darkened path before retiring himself. Avery and Booth worked quickly to put the fire out while Samantha and Temperance took care of the food mindful to get it all so they didn't attract any unwanted wild life.

"So, I'll see you in about an hour?" Avery asked the pair when everything had been taken care of.

Temperance nodded, "I think that would be sufficient, Dr. Hodgins' estimates are _usually _quite reliable. Christopher consumed two beers which is what we hoped, if he had wanted any more we would have had to somehow get him to drink a different brand."

"Why didn't you just spike two bottles again?" Samantha asked.

"We couldn't have been sure he wouldn't have chosen one of the non-enhanced drinks. By taking care of all of the ones in the cooler it insured that he would pick a contaminated one. We didn't want to take the chance of supplying him spiked drinks because he might have gotten suspicious." Avery explained.

"You two are evil aren't you?" Samantha asked.

"Of course." Avery said deadpanned, "Haven't you seen any of those orphan movies? That's Tempe and I, we might not be technically orphans but we did come from the foster system so I think that counts as close enough."

Temperance grinned, "Don't let Avery scare you off Samantha, I need another vegetarian on my side of the table." She said turning her attention to Booth, "We should go; we can get a few minutes to unwind before the pranking begins."

The couple made their way back to their personal campsite and looked around, it was dark now, and the atmosphere shifted making it more intimate now that they were alone. Suddenly uncomfortable being in this new territory both in her first 'in love' relationship, and that relationship being with Booth Brennan found herself unsure of what to do.

Booth sensed the change in her instantly, as they walked the trail up to the campsite she had pulled away from him both physically and mentally. They still walked close to each other, but they weren't touching, and though to most they were a comfortable distance to Booth he knew that the distance could have been oceans apart. "So." He trailed off unsure of what he could do to make it better.

"So." Temperance parroted, "You know what? I'm going to go up to the stalls and take a quick shower before the whole night begins." She said going into the tent and pulling out sweats and coming out of the tent, when she turned to go up the path to the showers she nearly collided with Booth, "Excuse me."

Booth shook his head, placing his hands on her arms, "In a minute. What's going on in that head of yours?"

Brennan squinted up at him, "Nothing, I just want to go take a shower and we only have a certain timeframe before we go torture Christopher."

Booth shook his head again, "You're lying, you're unsure of yourself, of this." He used one hand to motion between them, "Just admit it, its okay."

She looked away from him her head bowed as if waiting for a blow, which shocked Booth because he knew that she knew that he would never hit her, "I'm unsure." She said quietly, tensed.

Booth studied her and realized she wasn't waiting for him to hit her, no; she was waiting for him to be like every other guy who found something wrong with her. She was waiting for him to decide to go, "Okay." He replied.

"Okay?" she asked turning slightly towards him, "Just okay?"

He turned her face gently with his fingers until she was looking directly at him, "Just okay." He said with a small smile, "Bones, today you agreed to be my girlfriend in the squinty way of yours and tonight you're feeling a little gun shy, if you had just gone along with everything without your big brain making you think I would be worried. I'm pretty sure I'd be swimming down to the main land to get a doctor to come check out your head for a tumor…"

"Not funny." She grumbled.

"No, I suppose not." He replied back, his grin taking on an remorseful hint to it, "But still, my point is, that if you didn't have doubts it wouldn't be you and I don't want you to change." He added, "I like you just the way you are."

"So it's okay that I'm unsure? You're okay that you've entered into a relationship where your partner isn't sure if she…she doesn't know what she is doing?" she squinted back up at him.

"Bones, **I'm** not sure what I'm doing." He admitted, "This isn't a game to me, I want to make this work because I know that this is the way it should be, but I'm scared to death that I'll do something to mess it up and send you off to some jungle where there are monkeys and clowns and who only knows what and I won't know what to do to bring you back." He took a deep breath, "It's okay to be scared, as long as we don't let it take over what's important."

"Important?" she repeated in question.

"Us, Bones, Us. We are the important factor here, we can't let anything harm the center and the center is you and I." he replied, "So we each have a fear of the new twist in our relationship, and when the fear hits we'll just take a few steps back and talk it through. Okay?"

"Okay." She agreed, and Booth sighed unused to her one word replies, "Oh. You mean now?"

This caused a chuckle letting some of the tension leave the pair, "That would be a little helpful Bones."

She rolled her eyes but nodded, "I just don't know what to do here." She gestured around them. "Not the camping, I mean I don't know what you expect from me."

"Expect from you?" it was his turn to play the repeat game, "Throw me a bone here Bones, what do you mean?"

"Why would I throw a bone at you?" she replied before sighing, "Oh not literally, sometimes I just don't know." She bit her lip in thought, "I mean, we've agreed that sex is out of the question but I don't know how to be a couple. I don't know what to do." The last bit was filled with an anguished passion.

Booth pulled her to him wrapping his arms around her, "See? That wasn't so bad." He said and felt the hit of her hand against his back, "You hit like a girl Bones." He added pulling back so he could meet her look, "I don't expect anything Bones, we're going to go prank Christopher and then we're going to come back here, crawl into the tent, I'm going to kiss you goodnight because I can and then we're going to go to sleep."

"That's it?" she asked her eyebrow rose in question.

"That's it." he confirmed, "But first you have to take a shower because you're starting to smell like woods."

Brennan's mouth dropped open, "I-yo-What?"

Booth laughed, leaning in and stealing a quick kiss, "You heard me, and I'm not sleeping with anyone who smells like they've been bunking down with Bigfoot."

"Bigfoot doesn't exist." She crossed her arms, "And you shouldn't mind sleeping with someone who smells like they were sleeping with Bigfoot when you smell like Bigfoot yourself."

Booth laughed and felt the rest of the tension between them melt away, Bones wasn't tense anymore and she didn't have worry lines showing on her face, "Well then I guess we should take a shower then." He replied, "In…you know…separate showers."

Temperance smiled at his unease over shower talks, "I suppose we should go before Avery shows up." She said and in a un-Brennan-like action she stepped close to Booth and wrapped her arms around him, "Thank you Booth, you somehow always make me feel better."

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Notes!:  
I'm glad that almost everyone took that hint of Marcus saying if they wanted to stay another week as my way of asking if I should continue their vacation. I was floored by the number of you saying you'd be okay with that! Woo!  
I'm loving that someone said they would pop the air mattress that made me laugh. And to the guest reviewer who said what they did about Angela and Sweets and the delay in the B&B coupling, I so agree!  
Espero que he actualizado lo suficientemente rápido para usted. Me alegro de que usted está disfrutando de la novela. (I THINK it says that I'm glad you are enjoying the story and hope that I updated fast enough. I did took better to my German class then my Spanish I think, so if I insulted your mother or something…sorry!)  
Anyway, just wanted to let you know that I read every review, even though I don't usually reply because I don't know the courtesy on that and I don't like when my A/Ns are a page long. Lol.**


	18. Pranks and Pranks

**Okay so I have to say that I feel like the Christopher prank was a huge let down even to me, but I got hit with an idea and wanted to get it into this chapter (Which you'll see in the end, don't skip ahead!) and that took root in my mind and wouldn't let go. But there was a lot of B&B in this chapter so…win/win? Failure.  
Don't own them.  
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The pair walked up to the small basic bathrooms that were nothing more than two small buildings with a toilet, sink and shower. They each went to separate buildings and when they were finished they met up outside and walked back to the tent together. "You smell much better." Brennan said when they neared the tent.

"I'm never going to live that down am I?" Booth asked holding the tent flap open for her, "I meant it to break the tension between us, and it worked didn't it."

"Added a whole new tension of the 'you smell' variety." Temperance retorted stepping inside the tent and lowering herself on to the air mattress since there wasn't any other area available.

"I was only kidding; you're the one who said that you wanted to take a shower I just went with the flow." He defended climbing in beside her.

"I know, also know that we bicker really well and made it into the tent without needed another talk." She said shyly, "It was mostly for me."

"See that's communication." He grinned taking her hand, "And you're right, one of my favorite Bones activities is bickering."

"Bones activities?" She asked raising one of her eyebrows in question.

"One of the things I like to do with you." He replied, "I like to bicker, and I like to eat, and I like to take drives with you, and I like to work with you, I like to go to Sweets with you because I know it's you and me against him, and I like to…"

"I get it, you like everything." She laughed.

"Not everything, I don't like fighting with you." He said, "I like bickering, but when we have fights and there's anger and hurt feelings I don't like that."

She nodded, "I don't like that either…I wish we had some Thai food." She said.

"That was random." He laughed, "Trying to lighten the mood?"

"No." she replied, "You mentioned that you like to eat with me, and it made me think of our Thai nights which made me wish that we had some now."

There was a shuffling of leaves outside followed by steps on the wooden floor, "You guys awake in there or do I have to heft Christopher up in a tree myself?" came Avery's voice outside the tent.

"We're awake." Booth said shifting so he could unzip the tent flap, "And we're sure that everything we are doing tonight is completely legal?" he asked.

"Would I involve Tempe and a Federal Agent in an illegal activity?" was the reply as Booth and Brennan made their way out of the tent, Booth bending to zip it up so nothing got inside in their absence.

"I suppose you wouldn't." Booth replied, "And have you checked to make sure our victim is completely out of it?"

Avery nodded, "I got inside his tent and talked to him he didn't stir so I started shouting; we're good."

The trio made their way down the trail to Christopher's campsite, when they got there they met up with Samantha, Abigail and Marcus. "Wow, if I didn't know any better I'd say that Christopher had this coming." Booth said impressed that everyone but Chloe who was on child duty was there.

"Oh, I wouldn't miss pranking my son for the world." Marcus grinned, "Who do you think he got it from?"

"Me." Abigail replied.

They shared a quite laugh, "So how are we going to get him from his tent into the tree?" Temperance said, bringing the group's focus back.

"I figure Booth and I can carry him down the hill and then I'll climb the tree and you guys can all help boost him up to me." Avery suggested.

Brennan raised a hand, "This seems like a pointless prank, we're really going to tape him to a tree this early in the night?"

Avery nodded, "Oh yes, but I'm going to tape a baby monitor with him so we'll hear if he wakes or if some wild animal decides to eat him and I need to go pick up a corpse."

"Oh, well as long as you have it all planned out then." She lowered her hand and watched as Booth and Avery worked together to get Christopher out of the tent. The group walked down the trail Abigail and Marcus leading the way with flashlights as the boys juggled Christopher's dead weight. "I can't believe he's sleeping through this." Temperance laughed quietly using her phone to film a little of the action.

When they got to the tree that Avery had picked out earlier in the day while taking a seemingly innocent walk through the woods with Samantha, they put Christopher on the ground and everyone looked up at the tree studying it. Avery started climbing until he was several feet off the ground and sitting on a nice thick branch he used his body weight to test the strength of it, confident that it would hold his brother he nodded, "Alright, let's get him up here."

After a series of tries and near drops they finally managed to get the prankster up in the tree branch. Once Avery got him duck taped to the trunk of the tree Brennan climbed up with the help of Booth and the two worked to tape things that the gang on the ground threw up to them. Snickering Avery taped a tampon to his cheek, "He's really going to think twice messing with any of us again."

Brennan looked up from using scotch tape to tape magazine to his leg, "I don't know about that, maybe for a few months, but he'll be back to his pranking self in no time." Finishing up the magazine taping she leaned slightly back looking at their work of art, "I think that's good." There were plenty of things taped onto Christopher who himself was taped onto the tree with a few ropes to make sure he was secure.

"One more thing." Avery said reaching into his jacket and pulling out a baby monitor, switching it on he went about taping it to Christopher's right wrist.

Once both were satisfied and Temperance snapped a few pictures they made their way down the tree, Avery jumping to the ground with a grunt and Booth reaching up and pulling Brennan into his arms before setting her down casually on her feet.

"All good up there?" he asked, and Bones showed the group the close up look with the help of her smart phone.

"That's all very well and good, but I'm going to go to bed." Abigail said, "Goodnight my children old and new." She said making eye contact first with Temperance and Avery then with Booth and Samantha, "Come one Marcus that air mattress is calling to my old bones."

Goodnights were exchanged and while Avery and Samantha checked to make sure the baby monitors were working before returning to their tent Booth and Brennan made the walk up to their own tent after making a quick side trip to the bathrooms.

"Oh no." Temperance said suddenly pulling up short.

"What?" Booth stopped too turning back to her with a concerned expression.

"Well I climbed that tree so I probably smell like Bigfoot again, and wouldn't you know it? I taped the shampoo onto Christopher's left arm."

Booth rolled his eyes and reached out to take her hand pulling her with him as he continued to the tent, "Tomorrow I'm going to say something else that you'll use against me and the bigfoot thing will join the hungry enough to eat a horse comment in 'stupid things Booth says comment death'."

"You don't say stupid things." She replied walking along with him, "You just say things that aren't quite up with my intelligence level."

"Wow, Bones, just wow." He groaned out, "And that's going in, 'things Bones should think before speaking out loud'."

Brennan shrugged, "I'm just stating a fact." She replied, watching as Booth struggled to open the flap to the tent with one hand even as he refused to let go of her hand, "It would be easier if you let go."

Booth glared at the zipper before turning to her, "Okay." He said, letting go of her hand and getting the zipper down, "In with you." Bones laughed but did as told, once again settling on the air mattress, "I have to say that I expected a little more out of Avery. We actually took the time to get information on drugging him, and then we taped him to a tree with a bunch of random junk tape to him." She shrugged, pulling off her sweatshirt to reveal a plain pale pink T-shirt. Booth climbed inside and zipped the tent closed again, this time using the little hook system to 'lock' them in, and more importantly lock the rest of the party out since pranksters seemed to be about.

"I think it went okay, it's a fun safe prank, and now we at least know where he is for the night and don't have to worry about him coming and filling the tent with alarms. We might have to worry about Avery and his friendship with the furry little creatures of the forest, but not Christopher."

Brennan shook her head even as she settled into the blankets, "Avery and I have an understanding where we don't mess with each other, it's a foster kid thing, so as long as you stay in the tent with me you should be 'safe'."

Booth laughed pulling off his shoes and his sweatshirt as well exposing a white muscle shirt, he looked at the air mattress uncertain, and began moving the blankets on his side around.

"What are you doing?" she asked amused.

"There are about thirty blankets on here, and I would rather not roast to death in the middle of the night." He replied, laying down on the bed and pulling only the bottom blanket over him.

"You'll regret that when I have all **three** blankets wrapped around me, and you're suffering from a chilly night in Maine." She laughed pulling the other blankets more securely onto her side while Booth clicked the flashlight off leaving them in the dark.

"Well in any case, come here." he said reaching over and pulling her into his arms, "Just a kiss and then we're going to sleep." And with that he brought his lips over hers, ending the kiss he pulled back slightly but kept her in his arms. "And goodnight." He said seconds later he felt rather than heard his partner's silent laughter as she giggled in his arms, "What?"

"I don't think I've ever been kissed and then told goodnight." She said, "At least not while in bed." This set off another round of laughter.

"I'm trying to be the gentleman here Bones." Booth said trying for mock annoyance but couldn't stop the laughter that followed, "I told you I was going to kiss you and then we were going to sleep."

"And we will." She agreed with a few more giggles before leaning forward and capturing his lips with her own. Which was just fine with Booth, made only better when he felt Bones teeth gently nipping at his bottom lip, when her tongue replaced her lips and she slid it across his lip his mouth opened and soon it was a their tongues were dancing together. Brennan pulled away first and after taking a deep breath said with a smile in her voice, "Goodnight Booth."

"Mmhmm." Booth said quietly and a few seconds later when his mind returned to his body, "Goodnight Bones." This resulted in another round of giggling from his bed partner.

**BBBBBBBBBB**

Booth woke a few hours later feeling like he was in the inside of a refrigerator, rubbing his arms with his hands he waited until his eyes adjusted to the dark and looked around the small tent. Bones lay on her side facing him with all the blankets wrapped around her with the exception of the one small piece of the bottom blanket he managed to hold on to in his sleep. "Bonnnnes" he let out a quiet whine before trying to slide some of the blankets away from her to no end she held on tight.

"Nooo." She groaned, "You innit wan em!" she whimpered.

"Now I do, come on Bones-y share the blankets." He replied, just half of them.

"No."

"Come on Bones."

"No."

"Bones!"

After a long suffering sigh the scientist sat up, "Fine." She pouted, "You woke me up!" she complained even as she worked to unravel herself from the tangle of blankets, looking at him with a narrowed glaze, "This is going to cost you."

Booth laughed, "You're not a morning person are you? What's it going to cost me?"

"I'm not fond of the morning, no." She said shifting the blankets so they were more evenly spread and Booth pulled them over him with a sigh at the instant warmth, Brennan threw herself back down on the mattress, "I'll have to think about."

Booth nodded, "I see, goodnight Bones." He said with a grin getting only a mutter in return. It was several minutes later when he felt the poke of her finger on his shoulder, "Ouch! What?"

"I've thought about it." Was the reply, "I know what I want for payment."

"MMkay." He said with a yawn, "What's that?"

"I'm pretty sure I want a kiss like the last one." She said her voice dropping.

Booth's eyes shot open, "You want a what like the last what?" he propped himself up on his elbow, "Nevermind it was rhetorical. I think that's a pretty fair payment." He cleared his throat, "So come on over."

"Nope, you've already woke me up once and made me get up, it's your turn, over here." Was the reply.

Booth shrugged rearranged the blankets so he could close the gap between them, "Just a kiss Bones, we're not ready for anything else."

"I know." She replied.

Booth nodded and leaned over his lips finding the familiar feel of hers against his and he closed his eyes taking in the feeling, he ran his tongue over hers and she granted him access. As their mouths seemed to merge together Booth felt Bones slide up against him until they were flush together.

With a groan he pulled away, "Just kissing Bones." He reminded her but made no move to pull away.

"Just kissing." She blinked up at him.

"Okay." He said and his lips found hers again in a toe-curling experience causing his brain to take a back seat and his heart to work overtime. He felt her hand slide across his stomach until the coolness of her skin replaced the smooth fabric of his shirt, but he didn't care about boundaries not when her lips were on his.

Brennan found herself flat on her back with a small 'omph' but her lips didn't disconnect from her partners their breaths mingling as his body half covered hers. She fisted his shirt in her hands and used that to pull him closer some part of her mind wondering why she ever thought being in a relationship with Booth was ever a bad idea, because the thought was pushed from her mind and feeling took over.

When Booth's rough hands met the smooth skin of his partner's exposed stomach his ability to think seemed to fall back in place and he pulled away with a groan, "Okay, we really need to define what 'just a kiss' means."

Brennan looked up at him with a glazed expression before blinking, "We were just kissing."

Booth shook his head and seemed to realize that he was still half on top of his partner and rolled off his back dropping onto the air mattress, "That was more than kissing Bones, there was hands and…skin."

Temperance grinned, "I liked it." She said before sighing, "But we should probably get to sleep before your prudish side takes over."

"I'm not a prude." He said offended, "I just don't want to rush anything with us, not to mention once again that we're in the middle of the woods surrounded by your family."

Laughing Bones leaned over and planted a quick chaste kiss on his lips, "Goodnight Booth."

**BBBBBBBBBBBB**

When Booth woke up the next time spent several seconds trying to fall back asleep to finish the dream he had been heavily involved in. Finding that task impossible his mind became fully conscious and realized that there was a weight on his chest. Opening his eyes he realized that sometime in the night Bones had moved from her side of the bed over to his and was curled around him like a vine. Her head resting on his chest, her arm draped over him, his shirt fisted in her tiny left hand. Her left leg between his and it was all he could do not to make his dream a reality.

Luckily for him and his sanity Bones seemed to sense his state of awareness and started to stir. Coming awake she seemed to take in her surroundings before looking up to meet his glaze, "Hi." She said shyly.

"Morning Bones." He said with a grin, leaning down to give her a quick peck, "Seems to me I'm dating a cuddler."

Temperance blushed, "I'm not usually a cuddler it's probably because you woke me up in the middle of the night and stole all the blankets."

Booth laughed causing Brennan to protest the movement, "I didn't steal them all, I took my half back!"

"You wouldn't have had to wake me if you would have listened to me when I said it was going to be cold." She pointed out before sitting up and stretching, "Aren't you supposed to be catching a fish or something?"

Booth laughed sitting up as well, "I guess you're right, want to come help?"

Bones shook her head dropping back down on the mattress and pulling the blankets with her much to Booth's amusement, "No, no. No girls in the boy's club remember. Don't forget my fruit salad." She said eyes closing again.

Booth laughed before stealing one more quick peck and leaving the tent. After making sure it was properly zipped he made a quick trip up to the bathroom before meeting up with Avery who was headed to the shore with a fishing poles in hand, "Morning."

Avery turned and shrugged, "It's been an okay morning, I'm still waiting on Christopher to wake up." He replied tapping the baby monitor hooked onto his jeans, "He made a little noise earlier this morning, but must not have woken up, and there was an interesting turn of events when I think a squirrel visited him shortly after we left."

Booth laughed, "With any luck he'll wake up and realize that he needs to take his pranking down a notch."

Avery nodded, "So how did you sleep?"

Booth fought back a flush, "Good, once I got Bones to share the covers." He said before adding, "She kicked me out this morning just so she could have them all back."

Avery laughed, "That's right, sometimes I forget she isn't a morning person." He shrugged, "Let's go catch us some breakfast otherwise we'll have to join our women in a fruit salad."

"Which wouldn't be too terrible if it wouldn't be for their gloating." Marcus said coming up on the other side of Booth, "I trust everyone slept well?"

"Except for Tempe hogging all the covers from poor Booth here." Avery replied.

They fished for a little while having good luck, when they were satisfied with their bounty they made their way back up to the main camping area where most of their group was waiting. After cleaning and preparing the fish –much to the kids' disgust- Booth sensed Brennan's presence rather than seeing her. Turning her found her talking with Chloe about something causing the other woman to laugh, when Bones looked over at him he smiled and was relieved to see her easy going smile in return.

"Morning boys." She said walking over and looking over their handy work, "Looks like you've had a productive morning."

"Well we had to do something to keep Booth moving." Avery grinned innocently at his sister before adding, "Since he spent the night freezing trying to keep some covers on his side."

She met Booth's gaze before turning a bored look unto Avery, "Well he wouldn't have had to fight for them if he would have listened to me in the first place about needing them. Don't forget to make my and Samantha's fruit salad."

It was when they were preparing the fruit that a muffled shout cut through the conversation and they realized it was coming from the baby monitor that had found its way from Avery's jeans to one of the tables.

"Guess someone finally woke up." Avery said taking his time in cutting up some oranges.

Booth took his cue from the other man and continued his work on the apples before moving on to the grapes. It wasn't until everything was prepared that they rounded up the group and led them all down the path to where they had left Christopher the night before.

Chloe and the kids laughed seeing the handy work for the first time, the others joining in as well. "Oh Ha. Ha. Someone get me down!" Christopher shouted in a rare angry tone.

"I really think you do better up in the tree." Temperance said, "You have a nice view of the area, and can make a pet or two."

"Get. Me. Down!" Christopher repeated with more annoyance showing in his voice.

Avery and Booth worked on helping release Christopher from his binding and they all made their way back up the path to eat their breakfast. Christopher pulling random items off his clothing the whole way complaining about what a bunch of jerks he was dealing with.

The group made it back to the campsites and shared in breakfast, picking at Christopher and chatting about what they'd like to do for the day. "I was thinking that we could spend the day here on the island just having a relaxing day, maybe visit the town and take a hike." Abigail said, "And then we could spend another night out here since it was so much fun last night."

"As long as I don't end up in another tree." Christopher said, and soon the rest of the group was agreeing to the idea of spending another night in the forest.

"Great." Abigail said, "Then Chloe and I'll take the ferry to the mainland to refresh our supplies and be back early afternoon and then maybe we can take a walk through the town together. We'll go to the mainland first though because the ferry stops running at 5 o'clock."

The plans settled everyone cleaned up the breakfast and remaining food, and then broke off into groups, mostly the kids going fishing or swimming. Bones begged off stating that she was going to work on her novel until the others returned saying that she had to get at least something done.

When they did return from the shopping trip everyone was once again rounded up and they all headed to the small town together taking in all the sites and taking pictures of each other. When they had their fill of exploring they returned to the campsites it was close to dinner time.

"It's a beautiful little town hard to believe there are so many people living on this island, and they are so friendly." Brennan said.

"It's a beautiful place, you and Booth should check out one of the hiking trails, maybe it could inspire a scene in your book dear." Abigail said.

Booth and Brennan exchanged a look and shrugged, "Sounds good, if you don't want us to help with anything around here." Brennan replied.

Abigail waved her off, "No, no. We're going to have a light dinner, Chloe and I can do that. Go on you two."

"Parker would you like to come?" Bones asked.

Booth was looking at his son and almost missed Marcus shaking his head at the boy, "No." Parker replied, "I'm going to stay here and listen to one of Christopher's stories."

Booth narrowed his eyes on the group but shrugged it off, "Alright, we'll be back in a little bit." He replied placing his hand on his partner's back and leading her off to one of the hiking trails.

When they were a little ways up the trail he frowned, "You know Marcus told Parker to say no to coming with us."

"We're being set up." Bones replied with a frown.

"They sure do like making us go on hikes, I don't know if we should be offended or not." He joked.

"I think I know what they are doing, we should probably head back if we don't wa-"

"No way Bones, I'll take any free time I can get with you." Booth declined to turn back.

"Are you sure because you probably won't like the consequences to that choice you are making." She asked but started to follow along with him.

"What's the worst that could happen?" he asked not really caring, he was once again alone with his girlfriend and he didn't care if they planned a picnic at the end of the path for them or just the hike itself.

Brennan paused pulling out a piece of paper and a pen from her bag, "I'm going to write down what I think they are doing and you're going to put it in your pocket. When we return to camp, we'll see if I was right or not."

Booth shrugged watching her write something down before folding the piece of paper up. He took it from her when she held her hand out and slipped the paper into his pocket without reading it.

They hiked up the trail, this time the hike was from a more experienced hiker which was fine for both partners since they were both physically fit. They took their time talking and joking with each other, when they made their way back into the camping area the smell of food hit them before they came up to the site.

Looking around they hunted for their group before making their way down to the swimming area, Booth pulled the piece of paper from his pocket and read it with a groan.

"You were right." He said to turning to his partner, "They left us here, stranded."

**BBBBBBBB**

**Mwhahaha.**


	19. And Then There Were Two

**Happy (belated) Birthday Weekend HammieHamHam, sorry it took so long to get you your birthday chapter, I've had a tough and stressful weekend, where I was sure that I would just kill off all the characters if I tried to write anything, but it's all good now, so here you go. A little late.  
I don't own them.  
BBBBBBBBBBBBBB**

"We could always catch the next ferry and show up at The Pine." Booth said walking back to their campsite, annoyed to have been the butt of the joke.

Brennan shook her head, "The last ferry trip from the island was…" she glanced at her wrist watch, "about 30 minutes ago. So unless you want to swim back to the mainland, you're going to have to wait until morning. Besides, is it so bad being stuck out here for one night? They did leave us dinner."

Booth grinned at the thought of food; the hike had made him hungry, "Well since they made us dinner."

Temperance rolled her eyes moving towards the closed grill, "You can always shoot them tomorrow, and we have all night to think of revenge." She opened the lid to the grill to reveal cooked chicken, corn on the cob, and foil wrapped potatoes.

Booth's mouth watered at the sight and he moved to the cooler to get drinks out for them both, when he opened it he found a nice looking salad that he knew his Bones would love, and some fruit. Pulling the dishes out he set them on the table before getting water bottles for each of them, "At least their dinner seems like an apology of sorts."

Brennan used the grilling tools to put the cooked food on each of their plates, no chicken for her, before moving to sit on the picnic bench across from Booth, "Or their attempt at romantic camping food."

Booth grinned looking at her, "You're probably correct. You know, I don't mind being stuck out here with you, in fact, if it was anyone other than you I'd probably try swimming for shore." He said his expression soft looking at his partner, "It's just that they managed to get to Parker and he's in on this little hurrah."

Brennan grinned, "Hurrah…so you think that this was a good job?" she teased.

A rake-ish look overcame Booth's face, "Well, I **am** in the woods. Alone. With my beautiful girlfriend where there are no squints other than her, no dead bodies that we have to investigate, no other people to interrupt us, no Sweets, no job responsibilities. Just me and my Bones sitting at a private camping ground, alone…all night."

"It's very interesting that the only person you personally named was Sweets, I bet he would have something to say about that." She replied as she filled her plate with salad, "On the other hand, I'm glad he isn't here either. We should watch a zombie movie."

"Left park Bones." Booth replied and at her blank stare he expanded his statement, "I mean, that was very random, not to mention that we're not only lacking on a TV but I'm pretty sure none of these trees are equipped with electricity to plug the TV we don't have in."

Temperance continued to look at him with a blank stare, but this time he realized that there seemed to be a hint of her trademark 'you idiot' showing just around the edges, "Of course I didn't mean now, although the thought of an outlet being in a tree is an interesting idea, bit of a fire hazard. But I was thinking about the day I asked you and Parker to come with me and the talk I had with Parker. I haven't seen any zombie movies and while I know that there is no such thing as dead beings becoming reanimated and eating the brains of those who are still living…" She paused as if to rethink her original train of thought, "I want to watch one."

Booth nodded, "It's a date." He said casually taking a bite out of his chicken and seconds later he looked up with a pleased expression, "I mean it's really a date, oh boy, you and I get to go on real dates now."

Brennan's brow furrowed with confusion, "Real dates as opposed to?"

"No, not like that." He said with a offhanded wave, "I mean, we get to go out and date basically like we do now only we get to end the evening on a kiss or twelve instead of just goodnight and our first date can being watching a zombie movie."

Tempe tilted her head in thought, "That sounds like a terrible idea of a first date."

"There could be Thai food." He pointed out.

"I retract my statement." She replied with a grin.

Booth gave her his 'cocky' smile and took a large swallow from his water bottle, "See, it's totally a good idea of a first date, and you can pretend you're scared and hide your face in my chest and I'll wrap my arms around you…"

Brennan laughed, "Okay, okay." She held up her hands in surrender, "You win, we'll make it our first date, but I make no guarantees that I'll pretend to be scared, seems a little silly to me."

Booth rolled his eyes but his smile remained on his face, "If you say so. What do you suggest we do about this?" He asked, using his fork to gesture around them.

"We could pretend to have a colossal fight and aren't speaking with each other." She suggested, "They don't know that we are together so they would feel terrible if their plan backfired and we ended up further away from each other then together."

Booth nodded, "Sounds go-"

"However then Parker will think that we're on the outs and he said he was so happy that we were talking again. I wouldn't want to do anything that would make him feel like he did something wrong. We don't know how involved he was in this scheme but by just going on with the plan could make him feel guilty." She added going on with her thought process without noticing his attempt to reply.

Booth was touched by her taking his son's feelings into consideration, something that he hadn't thought about and made him feel a little guilty, but brought to his attention the last time he saw Parker, "You're right, I don't know how much he knows, but I do know that when you asked him if he wanted to come Marcus motioned for him to say no."

Brennan frowned, "Marcus did? I guess that I didn't expect him to be so involved, I bet this was all his idea."

"Then again, Abigail is the one who sent us off this morning." Booth supplied, "I wonder if after we all split up or maybe this morning they all got together and planned this. Had to be sometime after yesterday evening we had no plans to stay another day until this morning when, Abigail again, suggested we stay another night."

"She set us up." Brennan said in an unbelieving voice before slowly smiling, "Abigail approves of you."

Eyebrow raised, he leaned forward on the bench, "Because she organized this whole thing?"

"Yes, I believe so. She isn't one to pull pranks on Avery and I. So for her to do so it must be because she likes you." Brennan answered.

"So…we aren't getting them back?" he asked confused and also unintentionally proud of himself for gaining Abigail's approval.

Brennan studied him in that way of hers before shaking her head, "Oh no, we are most definitely getting them back. Just because she approves of you doesn't mean she doesn't deserve a little something back."

It was Booth's turn to stare intently at her and she forced herself not to budge under his concentrated stare, "What?"

He blinked at her as if to clear his thoughts and shrugged casually, "I was just picturing you using your skills to pull little pranks on everyone around the lab."

Temperance blushed, "I don't really, Hodgins and I sometimes talk about his experiments before he does them, but otherwise he is mostly on his own. I'll admit that we have been in talks about a hoax he came to me with a few weeks ago, but there isn't anything definite yet."

One eyebrow rose in question, "Yet?"

"Yet." She confirmed.

"So this prank, do I get to know about it or is this something that I'm going to end up shooting Dr. Hodgins over?" he asked placing his fork on his plate and reaching over to collect her dishes now that she was done with them as well.

Brennan shrugged standing up and helping to clear away the remains of their dinner, "Depends on whether we go through with it or not, if we do, I will give you a minor heads up that something is up so you don't shoot someone or arrest someone or something." She paused momentarily to grin at him before moving on to finish their task.

Dishes back in the cooler, grill cleaned, garbage collected and stored in a bag they looked around the main little camping area before turning to each other, "Back to our campsite?" Booth asked with a shrug.

Getting an answering shrug, Bones nodded, "I guess we might as well to at least put these items with our things." She replied and the couple made the way back up the path to their own site, and Booth couldn't help the relief that spread through him at their things still being there, and he made a metal note not to shoot anyone at least. They put the items in the corner of the three walled partially enclosed structure. "Now what?" she asked, it wasn't dark yet but they were trapped on a small island together.

Booth looked around the area in hopes that it would give him inspiration, "I don't know, you're the one who knows about the island, don't you have any ideas?"

Brennan looked around before meeting his glaze and biting her lip, "We could have sexual intercourse."

"No." he said feeling like the wind had been knocked out of him, "No, Bones, no." he said in a distinct tone. "It's not that I don't want to." He added hastily before she could take offense, "It's just that I don't want to rush us."

He watched emotions fly across Brennan's face as she came to terms with that, and in the end she shrugged, "Okay."

"Okay?" he asked cautiously, wondering why there wasn't a discussion about the pros and cons of consummating their relationship.

"Yes, okay. You make a valid point." She reiterated, "We could go to the Opera House back in the town, I believe they are playing Treasure Island tonight. It would have to be as friends though, because my…boyfriend…has already made plans on what we're going to do on our first date."

Booth's face took on a cheeky expression, "You're boyfriend huh." He slung his arm around her, "Well, I'm sure this boyfriend wouldn't mind if you went to the actual movies on a first date and had the zombie movie for a second date, less pressure to clean his apartment that way."

Brennan laughed, "Booth, I've never seen your apartment clean, why would you clean it now?"

"For my girlfriend." He stressed only half joking, "I wouldn't want her to realize that I'm a slob and not want a future with me."

Brennan contemplated that before responding, "I think the only reason she is in a relationship with you now is because she is hoping for a future with you."

Booth moved in front of her so he could look directly into her eyes, "She…You have a future with me for as long as you want me Bones. I'm here for the long haul, in fact, if you tried to get rid of me, I'm not going anywhere so you better get used to my slob like tendencies."

"Scalawag." She said softly.

"What?" he asked confused.

"Scalawag." She repeated, "It sounds better than slob." She grinned apparently satisfied with his assurances, "So we're going to the movie then?"

Booth nodded, "Yes, I'm taking my girlfriend on our first date."

And in the end they did make their way back into the town where they watched a movie together on the firm but surprisingly comfortable chairs in the small theater with around twenty other participants. With the cinema room being so small Booth sadly had to turn down Brennan's request of making out during the movie, promising to do so on a later date, perhaps their second when she was scared during the zombie movie, which promoted silent laughter from his partner before turning her attention back to the movie screen.

When the movie was over the couple existed the Opera House hand in hand, making their way down the street of the town, "I had a nice time." Brennan said when they reached the outskirts of the town and moved on to the trail that would take them back to the camping grounds and back to their tent. "Even if you did smell like you have been…bunking? Bunking with bigfoot."

Booth rolled his eyes in the nearly black night, "Okay, time to let that one go." He said arm making its way back around his partner and though he gave off every appearance of being loose and relaxed he keep his eyes and ears trained to their surrounding areas.

Temperance smiled and wrapped her arm around his waist at ease with their closeness knowing that Booth would do anything to keep her from bolting because he wanted his relationship to work as much as she did, and she wanted to show that she wanted it too even though she wasn't entirely sure on how to do that. "I'm glad we did this, it was fun, and the movie wasn't too bad either."

Booth beamed, "I'm glad, I had a good time too Bones." He replied.

"I wish we could call Parker and tell him what we were planning." Brennan said a little while later.

Booth sighed now wishing that they could call him as well, but knowing that they couldn't just call the house and ask for his son without the rest of the family thinking there was something up. "Oh, I got it. I'll call Jared and have him do it."

"Really? Jared?" She asked looking over to him now that she was adjusted to the dark.

"Yep." He replied as they made their way to their campsite, when they got there Booth dropped down to the hard wood surface and pulled out his phone, "Jared?" he asked when the line was answered on the other end, "Yeah, look I need a favor…no…nothing like that…I just need you to call Parker…no nothing like that either, I just can't do it because he's staying with Bones' family and…yes…thank you….no…no…Jared no you can't talk…would you just call Parker for me?" he ground out in an edge of frustration, "Okay. Thank you. Tell him that Bones and I aren't made and we're pulling our own little joke. Tell him not to tell anyone." Booth asked Bones for the phone number and reiterated it to his brother, "Ask to speak to me, and when they say that I'm not available or whatever then ask to speak to Parker, tell them that you just want to make contact and that nothing's wrong…I gave you the number in case you needed something…I don't know…I don't care…just don't let them know that I asked you to call…I'll shoot you that's what…Bones will shoot you too…okay, thanks, love you bro." Booth hung up the phone before turning back to his partner turned girlfriend, "He's going to do it." He stood up so he didn't have to stare up at her.

Bones nodded, "Or else we'll both shoot him?"

Booth grinned, "That's correct; he asked what we'd do if he told them he was put up to calling. He also wanted to talk to you about not dating me, saying that you should give him another chance."

Brennan frowned, "He's engaged, besides, I did pick the Booth that I wanted, why would I re-pick?"

The look on Booth's face seemed to light up the whole night sky even though Brennan knew that wasn't scientifically possible, and before she knew it his arms were around her and his lips had found hers in the dark. "Thanks Bones." He said softly, pulling slightly back, "We should probably go to bed."

Bones nodded, "It would be a good idea." She agreed, and started to move out of his arms and into the tent, but he stopped her from doing so, she gave him a questioning look.

"Kiss me first." He said casually and they shared another passionate kiss, when they pulled away he grinned, "Goodnight." And with the questioning look returning he added, "I'm not kissing you in that tent, you get handsy."

"Handsy isn't a word Booth." She retorted.

"Sure it is, means you get all touchy feely." He replied with a wolfish laugh unzipping the tent for her, after she stepped in he followed her in zipped the tent after them, "To bed with you Handsy Bones."

Bones rolled her eyes but pulled off her shoes before climbing onto the air mattress, and while Booth took off his shoes she sorted the blankets out and spread them evenly across the air mattress, "Going to take my expert advice and use the blankets tonight?"

Booth grinned getting under the covers, "That's right, not waking you up because you get handsy."

"It's not going to start being a word just because you keep using it." She stated pulling the covers over her with mock annoyance, or real annoyance Booth couldn't be sure.

"Google it." He replied.

"Does it look like the trees have electricity for me to do that?" she jokingly threw back his earlier words at him.

"Goodnight Bones." He replied.

"Goodnight scalawag."

**BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB**

In the morning the partners worked together to pack up their camping equipment, and after a two quick and separate showers headed down to the ferry dock where the mail boat was docked. Once seated on the boat Booth leaned over and kissed Bones good morning. "I had a good night Handsy."

Brennan laughed, "Well if you hadn't kicked the covers off, I wouldn't have stolen them and you wouldn't have had to wake me up again! Nor did you have to kiss me after getting your blankets back."

"It was a thank you for sharing the blankets with me kiss." He said in his defense, "You're the one who got handsy, Handsy!"

"It's still not a word." She retorted crossing her arms over her chest.

"Google it, it's on urban dictionary." He replied mocking her pose, after all urban dictionary had everything.

"That doesn't count, Angela made me go on that sight for something one time, and it's a terrible site. They use words in such in correct terms." She frowned, and the two playfully bickered the rest of the trip back to the mainland.

When they got closer they pulled away from each other, but found that action unnecessary when they docked no one was there but a few unknown tourists. After unlocking the vehicle and loading their belongings in the car they got inside and started the trip back to the house where the rest of the family was probably waiting proud of their little joke.

They stopped quickly at a coffee shop for a quick on the road breakfast, and when they pulled into the driveway of the Pine House they both got out slamming the doors behind them. Brennan opened the back door and Booth tried to grab her bag but she maneuvered in front of him grabbing her own bag and hefting it over her shoulder, "I can get my own bag." She said stubbornly before turning on her heel and making her way to the house.

Booth rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at her retreating back before grabbing his own bag and following her to the house. When they got inside Chloe and Marcus were suspiciously discussing a picture that hung in the hallway. "Oh hey guys." Chloe said with a horribly false surprised tone.

"Hi." Brennan replied, "Nice little joke, don't think there won't be payback for it." She said in a mock threatening tone. "I was going to let Booth shoot you but I didn't want have to find ways to get rid of all your bodies."

"I thought it was funny." Booth added with a nod of acknowledgement to the pair, "I'm going to go take a shower." He said even though he'd taken one before they left the island.

"Me too." Brennan replied with a small wave to duo, "I'll see you in a bit."

When they pair reached the stairs Booth gestured for her to go first and she snapped back, "Stop acting like a stupid alpha male." Before storming up the stairs and slamming the door to her room behind her.

"Stop acting like a stupid alpha male." Booth repeated in a mocking tone as he made his way up the stairs to his own room.

Downstairs Chloe and Marcus exchanged glances with each other, matching frowns settling on their faces, "Uh oh." Marcus said, before they both moved to share the terrible development with the rest of the house.

**BBBBBB**

**That's what you get for the night. It's only half past midnight Eastern Standard Time, so HammieHamHam, I' m still counting it as an update for your birthday weekend.**

**Till next time everyone.**


	20. When the Storm Hits

**_Thoughts are with those who were injured or lost their lives in Boston, and their family and friends. I was relieved to know that my friends and family members in the area were all safe after such a terrible occurrence.  
_****  
Don't own them.  
BBBBBBBBBBBB**

Booth and Bones made their way back down the stairs moments later, walking quietly down the hall until they found where the family had holed themselves up.

"What do you mean they _might_ be in a fight?" Avery's voice came through the door to the dining room loud and clear.

"Well, they seemed fine when they were talking to us, maybe a little tense, but it was like they didn't want us to know that they were fighting." Chloe's voice sounded next, "It was like as soon as they were alone enough to suit them they couldn't stand to be near each other. You should have seen it Tempe couldn't get away from him fast enough."

"And Booth actually mocked her, and not in that playful way they do. He seemed positively nasty." Marcus added.

"Looks like I'm not winning the affections of the family anymore." Booth whispered to Bones who grinned back.

"We did this." Came Abigail's voice a hint of worried hysterics in her voice, "We need to fix this before he leaves her here, or she leaves him…and they go back to DC and request new partners."

Brennan barely contained her laughter, "We should tell them we're breaking our partnership later." She whispered back.

"What are you two children doing?" Elsie's voice hissed behind them, knowing that they didn't want their presence known, but not knowing if there was a good enough reason to keep it secret for them.

"Uh." Booth turned to face the housekeeper and cook, "We're playing a practical joke?" he replied quietly while Bones kept listen at the door.

"Does this have to do with them leaving you in the woods last night?" Elsie asked, and at Booth's nod she shrugged, "Whatever you kids want to do. People leaving each other to fend off the forest monsters without a word." She said, clearly annoyed on their behalf, "Can I fix you anything? Coffee? Pie? Fruit?"

Bones turned her attention at that, "I'd love some fruit."

"Smoothie?" was the answering question.

Bones grinned, "I would love one."

"Me too." Booth said, "If the offer extends to me." He added.

Elsie grinned and grabbed his cheek between her fingers, "Of course the offer extends to you young man." And with that she turned and left the partners to their ease dropping to go make fruit smoothies still muttering about them being left in the woods and how it was a terrible prank to pull on someone.

Booth returned to his spot next to Temperance.

"…I'm not saying we lock them in a basement for God's sake." Marcus said angrily, "I'm saying we pull the same stunt, leave them alone where they have to work this out. They had an out this morning and caught the ferry back, if we would have known this would have backfired we would have somehow taken that option away."

"If we knew this was going to happen we wouldn't have done it in the first place." Avery retorted just as angrily, "This is why we don't play these tricks on each other, look what we've done. Booth is a good match for Tempe and we've gone and messed that up. We don't know what happened or if it's fixable, they were on tremulous ground when they got here, what if we reversed all the good that came of the trip."

"Then we fix it." Chloe said with determination, "I'm going to go check on her."

And with that statement the partners jumped away from the door like it was on fire and raced towards the stairs, Elsie got to them when they passed to the kitchen and Booth took his drink heading to his room while Bones decided that she was staying in the kitchen where she could 'drown her sorrows' –as Booth put it- in her fruit smoothie.

Chloe made her way to Temperance's room, and after finding her not there, she checked the library and game room before setting her sights on the kitchen, letting a sigh of relief when she found her unofficial sister sitting at the kitchen table miserably sipping from her smoothie.

"Hey Sweetie, how's it going?" Chloe asked taking a seat next to the scientist.

Brennan sighed, "Its okay, I'm just a little tired, after we found out that you abandoned us, we went on another hike." Bones said trying to sound casual and miserable all the while trying not to smile.

"That sounds fun, so you and Booth had a good time?" Chloe asked hoping for a casual tone.

Brennan took another long pull from her drink before replying, "I guess you could say that." Was her reply before pushing her barely half drank smoothie away, "I'm sorry Elsie, I guess I'm just not hungry." She replied before standing, "I'm going to go lay down for a little bit."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Chloe asked taking in the uncharacteristically traits of the doctor.

Brennan nodded adding forced smile for effect, "I'm fine, like I said we did a lot of hiking last night." She followed that up with an over exaggerated fake yawn, "I'm just going to rest a bit, and I'll see you later."

"Okay." Chloe said with an almost dejected tone, "I'm here if you need to talk."

Brennan looked at her in confusion, "If I wanted to rest why would I talk? It would defeat the purpose."

Chloe grinned at the Brennan-like answer and watched her friend leave the room the smile falling from her face, "Elsie, I think we messed up."

Elsie looked at her hard, "Don't be including me in that 'we'; I've never seen that girl act so down, coming in here with those sighs. Nah-huh, not that girl, she's always been such a spitfire and whatever prank you guys pulled on her and that agent of hers…" Elsie picked up the discarded smoothie and held it up for Chloe's inspection, "Ain't ever seen that girl not drink her smoothie down." She said and made her way to the sink mumbling about people messing with other people.

Chloe mumbled something and left the room quickly, not wanting to be subjected to one of Elsie's rants having heard them enough as teenager. A few minutes later Brennan came back in the kitchen, "Elsie you didn't happen to…" Elsie held out the smoothie she pretended to dump in the sink while Chloe was in the room, "Thank you!"

Elsie shook her head, "I knew you'd be back for that, so tell me about what's really going on between you and that federal agent of cuteness."

Brennan blushed and glanced towards the door before dropping her voice, "We've been dating that last couple of days."

Elsie barely stopped the squeal from leaving her body, "Child, I'm happy for you!" she said quietly but her tone full of excitement, "And the rest of the group don't know, correct?"

Brennan grinned, "No." she said, "They think they are helping get us together, but we did that well enough on our own."

"That you did child, I won't lie, I worried about you not getting your head on straight and seeing that that man loves you, but once I met him I knew he wouldn't give up until you knew." Elsie said, "No go before one of them comes back and finds you happily drinking that." She shooed the scientist away.

Temperance happily went, checking the hallway and finding it empty she made her way back to her room, smoothie in hand and went to work on her book deciding that the family was sure to stay away from her for a little while, while they tried to decide how to fix the 'mess' that they had caused.

**BBBBBBBBBBB**

When Booth got back into in his room he sat down on the couch and flipped on the TV intent on drinking his smoothie and watching whatever game happened to be on at the moment. There was a soft knock at his door before it opened and his son stepped into the room closing the door behind him.

"I didn't tell anyone why Uncle Jared called." Parker said quietly as if he was afraid the others could hear him as he made his way across the room and sat down next to his father, "But you and Dr. Bones are just playing a trick right? She slammed the door pretty hard and if she's really upset with you, you should apol-apol…say you're sorry."

Booth grinned, "Nah Parker." He started, putting his arm around his son's shoulders, "Bones and I are fine we just want to make everyone else think that their little plan backfired. But, I promise, Dr. Bones and I are just playing a little joke, you can go over and ask her if you don't believe me." To which he half expected his son to do just that, it always amused him that his son had such faith in his partner and she didn't realize that.

Parker seemed to think about it before shaking his head, "No, I believe you." He replied eyeing his father's half drank smoothie, "Where did you get that?"

Booth's grin widen, "Elsie made it, would you like the rest?"

Parker shook his head standing up, "No thanks, it's starting to melt. I'm going to go see if she'll make me a little one!" and with that he scrambled out the door.

Booth took a long pull of his smoothie, fought the effects of a 'brain freeze' and settled back into watching his game. It was only about ten minutes later when there was a soft yet firm knock at the door, "Come in!" he called out setting his smoothie on the table and sloughing dejectedly on the couch.

The door opened to review Avery who strolled in with a more somber than usual approach. When Booth saw him he made an attempt to sit normally like nothing was wrong while giving off an air that something was in fact wrong, hoping that the other man would pick up on the cues even though they didn't know each other that well. Avery seemed to eye him before gesturing towards the chair nearby, at Booth's shrug he took the seat, "What's happened?"

Booth stared at the TV a long moment before shrugging, "I don't know, seems that, that team can't figure out which end of the field is theirs." He said pointing to the screen, "And the other team is too busy watching butterflies to pay attention anyway."

Avery shook his head reaching over and turning the TV off with the remote, "I meant with you and Tempe."

Booth gave a long suffering sigh, "Nothing's wrong with us, we just had a long night and are both tired. I promise we'll both be down for dinner mom."

Avery scowled, "I am not your mother, nor do I make any claims to having parental rights to either of you. What I want to know is yesterday you couldn't stop staring at her, yet, today all you seemed to want to do is scowl at her."

Booth gave another deep sigh, "Not that your information is correct, but how did you come up with that? Have your little spies follow us around, did you?"

Avery took a turn at sighing, "No, I told you that I trusted you, however, I'm starting to see that that might have been premature." He ran a hand through his hair, "Chloe and Marcus noticed some…tension…between the two of you when you returned."

Booth stared at him a long moment before shrugging, "We're partners we bicker, if you're so concerned about it why don't you ask Dr. Know It All about it."

Avery flinched and Booth thought that he'd taken it a step too far, "I thought I would come here first, you're a good guy and I know that you have the best intentions for my sister. I thought we could…work it out?...I don't know, I just know that I was sure after this trip I'd have to start considering you part of our messed up family, so I thought maybe we could…bond." He groaned, "I swear this is why I don't talk to people…who uses the term like bond?"

Booth chuckled, "Apparently you do." He said before shrugging, "Bones and I will work it out…I think."

Avery seemed to take that as dismissal and rose from his chair, "Alright, but if you need to talk or let off steam, just find me." Booth nodded his thanks, and while Avery moved to the door and exist the room Booth sent a quick message to his girlfriend across the hall hoping she would get it before Avery got to her.

**BBBBBBBBBBB**

Temperance was sitting at the desk in her room when her phone went off, she thought about ignoring it but deciding against it she picked it up and read it. _'Bones. Avery may come. Didn't mean the no-it comment. Playing along.'_ She'd barely had a chance to shove her phone into her laptop case before Avery opened the door and strolled in without ceremony. "Avery." She said, before making a show of turning her attention back to her laptop.

"Hi Temperance." He said in his direct no nonsense tone, "What's going on." And the way he said it wasn't a question more of a demand.

Brennan bit back a laugh and shrugged instead, "I'm trying to decide if sending Kathy on a six year minimum expedition is a good idea, and while I'm working on that…Well Andy has started thinking that he doesn't want to work in his current field and is thinking of taking on a more white collar job at the FBI maybe dealing with con artists instead of murder victims."

Avery managed to stop the moan of distress that tried to make its way out of his mouth, "Please tell what I can do to fix this." He asked with a pleading tone.

"I don't know what you want me to tell you Kathy and Andy are fictional characters." She frowned, "I suppose I could add another character and base him off of you but that seems rather silly. Not to mention that fact that it is only fiction, so I don't know why you seem to be getting so worked up about it."

"Tempe stop, I know that something is going one between you and the agent across the hall and if you don't tell me what I can do…" his voice rose with each enunciated word, "So. Help. Me. God." His voice level high enough that Booth cringed in his room wondering if he needed to go back his partner up.

Brennan held up her hand, "We had a disagreement." She answered him, "Partner's have them sometimes, but don't worry we're going to work it out."

"What was your disagreement about?" Avery prodded, moving to take a seat on the armchair nearest the desk.

"There was more than one." She said and frowned at his cast fallen expression, Avery wasn't one to play practical jokes with the rest of the group, and like she had told Booth they seemed to have an honor code between them. Making a snap decision to forgive him for his role in this prank she sighed leaning forward in her chair, "Booth and I are fine."

"Stop lying to me, everyone here is concerned you two came home acting lik-"

"It was an act." She said quietly, "We're…pranking everyone."

"You're what!" He asked jumping out of his chair in outrage causing the chair to shift slightly back, Brennan cringed at the scraping sound it made, "You're doing what?" he asked more quietly this time only there was a hint of angry and frustration mixed in.

"We thought it would be amusing to pull an immediate revenge hoax on everyone for leaving us behind." She replied defensively, "The only one who knows about it is Parker."

Avery frowned, "How does he…the phone call." He groaned returning to his seat, "We never suspected a thing, Seeley's brother called wanting to talk to him and when Chloe said you guys had stayed another night at the island he asked Parker went too. You guys set us up with no time to really put anything thought into it; this is why I don't approve of everyone's childish ways."

"Oh you have to admit putting Christopher in that tree was fun and now that you know about our little show we having going on here…" she trailed off.

Avery sat in silence for a few moments before a grin broke out on his face, "Now that I know about it, it does make me feel rather amused and a little devious, you know I'm going to have to tell Samantha right? She's very special to me, and I don't want to risk that even for you."

Temperance nodded, "I wouldn't expect any less from you."

"And you and Booth are okay?" He asked wanting to be sure.

Brennan nodded, "We're better than okay." She smiled shyly sitting back in her chair and turning her attention back to her screen, "You're going to have to stop making him think you're out to get him. I really like Booth and if you mess that up you're not going to ever wake up again."

Avery held up his hands before standing, "Okay, okay. I've already told him that I'm not hounding his every move anymore, but to reassure you…I'm not hounding his every move anymore." Brennan nodded and Avery realized he was being dismissed for the second time in less than an hour, "Alright, I'll see you and Booth later, just don't keep this up to long, Abigail already feels terrible for coming up with this plan."

"Booth and I thought it might be her." Temperance grinned but kept her focus on her computer trying to get the real storyline in her mind and onto her computer.

Avery took the hint and stepped out of the room, this time he didn't bother with the formality of knocking but entered the FBI agent's suite and moved into the room to stand in front of the agent in question. Booth for his part just looked up since his view was blocked and raised his eyebrow in inquiry, "Back again?"

"I just want you to know that I know." He said, "And not to call Tempe a Know It All if you do happen to ever get really upset with you."

Booth frowned, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh please." He waved his hand in dismissal of Booth's claims, "She told me that you're playing a hoax on everyone for leaving you on the island, and that Parker's phone call from his uncle last night was to insure that he knew what you guys were up too, don't try to deny it, I know the truth."

Booth shrugged, "And you plan to do what with the truth?"

"Nothing, Tempe knows not to take it too far but if she wants to have her fun at the expense of the family I don't see anything too wrong with that." He replied, "Just so you know…I know and I think it was interesting that you didn't give in even though you still seem to think I'm part of some mob where we really do get rid of people by burying them in foreign countries…that's all joke and directed at Christopher by the way."

Booth nodded, "I know."

"Okay."

"Okay."

**BBBBBBBBBB**

Dinner was a tense affair that night, Bones and Booth having managed to stay in their rooms for most of the afternoon coming out only when they were sure that the other wasn't with everyone else and only staying for a few minutes to put in a 'woe is me' in the air before going back to their rooms.

Temperance, who started to go stir crazy in her suite came down sometime later to help in the kitchen with dinner preparations Chloe and Abigail came in to help her and Elsie, but Elsie shooed them out telling them that she was dealing with temperamental Temperance, once the two pranksters left Temperance and Elsie went back to happily chatting.

Booth having spent most of the afternoon trading text messages with Bones until she went to the kitchen also left his room when Avery came up to bring him down to the library to 'talk', instead the two drank a few shots together and played pool.

The rest of the family not knowing this were tense when the both members of the couple were in attendance at dinner, all trying not to let on that they knew something was going on but Booth, being excellent at reading people, could barely keep a straight face from his spot at the table between Parker and Christopher. Brennan had taken a seat between Parker and Samantha, really driving home that there was something off between the two.

"So…how was camping?" Christopher asked receiving glares from the rest of the group; however the glares soon turned into interested glances towards the pair.

"Fine." Brennan replied keeping her attention on her food, "Booth and I were talking and we think its best if we head home in two days as planned, I have my book that needs work and Booth…has things to do."

"Like spend time with my son and see a few friends." Booth added in a non committed voice.

Marcus and Abigail shared a look, "Are you sure? Like we said we couldn't mind if everyone stayed another week and…" Marcus started only to be cut off by Bones.

"Actually, Booth and I also have to file some paperwork regarding our partnership that needs to be turned in as soon as possible." Brennan explained casually, and Booth barely was able to keep his lips from turning up at his partner's quick thinking.

Booth and Bones who were both keeping their eyes down towards their plates so they wouldn't laugh and give their joke away and to the others it seemed like they were just avoiding looking at each other. It was Avery who caught all the worried glances that went around the room, and he forced himself to play along, rolling his eyes at Parker know that the boy knew that he was in on the game as well.

"Uh. Hm. Oh? What sort of paperwork?" Marcus asked picking up his drink and taking a long sip.

"Oh, nothing important." Booth said glancing briefly at the older man before turning his attention back to his food, "Just a change of status type of thing, real standardized type stuff."

"Change in status?" Abigail asked concerned.

Hearing her concern Booth and Bones shared a quick glance and one of their wordless conversations, "I guess we could put it off for a few more days." Temperance gave in, "I mean as long as we turn in our time stamps before we go to back to work."

"Time stamps?" Chloe asked confused.

"Yeah, Booth and I worked longer hours last week than we usually do so we had to we have to turn in some special time stamps, not to mention the work we did yesterday plotting our revenge against certain family members." She added.

"Revenge?" Christopher asked.

Booth shared another look with Brennan, "We seem to be getting a lot of one word answers and short phrases, and I thought your family was supposed to be really smart like you."

Brennan shrugged, "I always thought they were close to my intelligence level, but I must agree that now I am not too sure."

Booth set his fork down on his now empty plate and watched his partner do the same, "We should probably go for a walk or something, I feel like I haven't done anything product today."

"That's usually the way you like it." She replied as they both stood as one and made their way to the door, much to Parker's amusement as he was used to their wordless conversations and acting as though they were one.

When they go to the door the others thought it good to intervene, "Uh, hello?" Christopher said drawing their attention, "Are you kidding me? Am I the only one who doesn't have the slightest idea what has just happened here?" the rest of the table minus Parker and Avery all shook their head.

"We were kidding." Booth said, turning his attention to the group and crossing his arms, "That's what happens when you play pranks on the best team this side of the ocean…"

"…Actually were pretty good on the other side too." Bones interjected.

"…Right." He concluded her interruption, "Anyway, when you play pranks with the best set of partners around then you have to deal with the consequences of your actions, you're lucky we didn't drag this out, go back to D.C. and stop working with each other for a few weeks just to mess with you."

"In our defense…" Abigail started but Booth interrupted her.

"Oh we know all about what you are trying to do and you can stop that right now." He said and ushered out the Bones out the door, a split second before he left the room as well he turned back with a grin, "But thanks."

When the pair were gone the remaining dining members all exchanged glances, "So let me get this straight," Christopher frowned, "they just wanted us to think that they were angry with each other this whole time?"

"Serves you right." Elsie said as she came in to check on the food and drinks of the members, "Those two spent the day laughing and entertaining each other with those little electrical phone devices at your expenses and I can't say I blame either one of them."

"What are we going to do about this?" Christopher asked.

"Oh no!" Avery said looking up from his silent conversation with Samantha, "I'm not going through this again, we've all had our phone and now we are done. No more pranking or revenge pranking or revenge revenge pranking."

"What about revenge revenge revenge pranking?" Christopher asked receiving a glare in return, "Nevermind."

"So we're good here? Because I spent the better part of the afternoon with Agent Booth while they played their little game and I've got to tell you he's better than I thought he was, not to mention that he mentioned going to a football game or two with me…"

"Bromance." Christopher said in a singsong voice earning another glare from Avery and a whack on the back of the head from Marcus.

"Anyway." Avery said with a pointed glare at Christopher, "He's a stand up guy, and Elise is right, they did spend their 'brooding time' text messaging each other and I think maybe if we stand back they might get there on their own you should have seen him all smiles and googly eyes every time that stupid phone went off…worst pool game ever having to wait on him to read and reply…but I want to see her happy, and I want to see him happy. So we're done, got it."

"I hate when Avery goes all Avery." Chloe said with a pout, "Got it." There were nods of agreements from around the table and they went back to their dinner with a weight lifted off them now that the prank was revealed.

**BBBBBBBBBB**

Booth sighed and rolled onto his back putting his arms under his head and looking at the ceiling in the muted light, the day had gone better than they thought it would when they discussed what their plans were.

When they finally let them in on the secret and left the dining room they went for a walk around the grounds and acted like teenagers. Booth grinned at the memory of pushing Bones up against one of the trees in the back field and kissing her senseless, and truth be told it made him a little senseless too.

When they returned back to the house joking and laughing with each other the family met them and apologized for their prank to which the partners shrugged it off telling them that they weren't really angry and shared their night at the Opera House and how much fun it had been to take in a movie in the small building where it wasn't really like a theater nor was it like watching a movie at home with twenty or so strangers.

After that they all spent the evening at the pool before retiring for the night, where Booth returned to his room and went straight to bed tired, but having tossed and turned for what seemed like hours he realized that he just couldn't make himself fall asleep.

Thunder crashed over the house and seconds later lighting flashed across the dark sky seconds later ran pelted down on the house abusing the roofing and helping lull Booth into an almost sleeping state when the door to his room opened.

Expecting it to be Parker he held his arm up to let him know he was awake, "Come on, beds big enough for both of us."

"I would hope so." Was the reply only it wasn't from his son, but from his partner.

Booth sat up straight opening his eyes and staring at her, "Bones?"

"I can't sleep, and irrational as it is the storm is only making it worse." She said edging towards the bed.

Booth nodded and motioned to the other side of the bed, "Come on, there is plenty of room." He said, and watched his partner and girlfriend cross the room and bed and climb in next to him. From their undercover operations she knew that he preferred the side closest to the door as an alpha male thing.

Bones leaned over and gave him what was supposed to be a quick kiss, but ended up with them pressed flush together hands wondering and breathing quickening, when they pulled apart Bones sighed, "Goodnight Booth."

"Goodnight Bones." He replied curling his body around hers so they were in a spooning position, "My handsy girlfriend.

**BBBBBBBB  
Another one down. Ugh, I made the mistake of watching the first couple of minutes of the new episode, Booth in the office. Aww! I quickly turned it off, but come on! Anyway for those who don't know I'm always behind on shows so the last episode I watched was the one where Bones got shot. Terrible of me I know.  
Anyway, Reviews make me happy, and hopefully I'll see you soon with another chapter!**


	21. Good Morning Marcus

**I was sitting here thinking to myself that I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to finish this, that's not too terribly worrisome is it? I don't own them.  
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Booth woke up sometime later no longer spooning with his partner, but lying on his back acting as a mattress for one scientist he loved to look at. Brennan had turned towards him and curled around him, leg wrapped around his, foot nestled at his knees, head on his chest, and one of her hands clenching his t-shirt tightly in her sleep her body at rest between his body and his arm.

His arm that was under the his sleeping partner was giving off that uncomfortable pins and needles feeling and he took his hand off her hip and flex a fist a few times until the feeling went away, with it gone his hand settled back on her hip bone with just a hint of smooth skin teasing his sense of touch.

This was what he wanted, what he knew from the start was what was _meant to be_ between him and Brennan, and he didn't need her to change for that to happen, this was it, the little moments like this. With a sigh he realized his reason for waking up, and discovered in their musical chair of sleeping positions Bones had someone ended up with most of the blankets on her side. Booth bit back a laugh wondering if this is what he had to look forward to for the next 30, 40, 50 years, and sent a silent prayer up to his God that it was exactly the thing he had to look forward to with the same woman that slept in his arms now.

Reaching across both himself and his partner Booth secured a corner of the comforter and gently gave it a pull managing to bring the covers back to his side and causing Temperance to sigh contently now that she was more cocooned in the blanket. With a grin he kissed her forward, happy to see her so relaxed, and drifted back to sleep.

When Booth woke the next time it was because a bright light was making it hard to stay in the land of dreams, when he opened his eyes to see what time it was he came face to face with Marcus, and startled he seemed to jump in bed while making a sound that mimicked that of the 3 Stooges. "What are you doing?" Booth hissed out eyeing his girlfriend that managed to sleep through the whole ordeal.

"I was looking for Tempe but couldn't find her, so I came in to see if you knew where she disappeared too." Marcus explained, "Clearly you did know."

Booth could feel the heat rise to his cheeks, "Yeah, about that…"

"You had a better time on the island then we thought?" Marcus suggested when Booth trailed off.

Booth shook his head, "No, no we'd already decided before then that we were giving us a shot." Booth said, "On the island we just thought of ways to make you all pay while humoring ourselves at your expense."

"I see." Marcus said, his voice monotone and Booth couldn't tell his he was angry or not.

"There is so much talking." Brennan mumbled hiding her face in the crook of Booth's neck as if it would make everyone go away and leave her in peace for a few more minutes or hours.

Marcus and Booth exchanged amused glances both now being accustomed to Brennan's anti morning ways. "That's because it's morning sweetheart, and I was coming to see if you'd be joining us for breakfast." Marcus said as the moment passed.

Brennan lifted her head looking first to Booth and then to Marcus, "Don't you think that Booth and I deciding to take our relationship to another level mean we deserve breakfast in bed?"

Marcus looked at them for a few seconds before a startling laugh escaped him, "As romantic as that does sound, and we've all be about trying to romance the two of you together…" he paused with a tickled grin, "I wouldn't miss you're walk of shame to the breakfast table for anything."

"Walk of shame? Shame of what?" Brennan asked glancing at Booth trusting that he would have the answer she wanted pervaded.

Booth had a mixed expression, part cringe part amusement, as he looked down his nose at his partner, "Walk of shame is college reference for one night stand usually with someone you're ashamed to be caught sleeping with."

"But neither of us or ashamed of the other." She replied more confused that before.

Booth's answering smile warmed her from the inside out, "I know, I think in this instance he means the part where we were caught in the bed together more than anything else."

"Correct." Marcus threw in more so to announce to the pair that he was still in the room, he took a step away from the bed and waited until they noticed his remaining presence.

"Why would we be ashamed for being in bed together? We sleep in the same tent together, everyone knows that." Brennan carried on trying to make sense of Marcus's bizarre statement, completely glossing over the reply the other man in the room gave while her focus was completely on her partner.

"I know." Booth said with an amused glance to Marcus, "What do you say we just get it over with so I can eat some breakfast."

Brennan sighed sitting up, "Alright, alright. I'm getting up." She turned her frown to Marcus, "By there won't be a walk of shame or whatever you meant." She added throwing back her covers and getting out of bed. She didn't look back when she crossed the room and walked out the door presumably to go to her room to get ready for the day.

Marcus and Booth pulled their amused stares from the empty doorway back to each other, their amused expression both melted into expressions of awkwardness, and Booth fiddled with the comforter, "Look…"

Marcus shook his head, "She's right, you shared a tent it's not like any of us care if you share a bed too. I just hope that this is more than just one of those college one night stands." When Booth started to defend himself Marcus stopped him, "Now son, I'm not accusing you, or her for that matter, of doing such a thing, I know enough about you to know that you wouldn't do that to our Tempe, I'm just…what I'm trying to say is…" he coughed in that way only guys can do when forced to talk about their feelings, "What I mean to say is…you're a good guy Agent Booth you have good values and a good head on your shoulders, and I know that everyone here will be very encouraging and welcoming to you as part of our family."

Booth nodded feeling like a lump had settled in his throat and he had to clear his throat a few times before he managed to get anything else, "Thank you Marcus…that means a lot."

Marcus nodded and they both avoided eye contact each looking around the room for something that would bring their conversation out of the serious turn it took, "Well…I'm going to go see what Elise is cooking up." Marcus said moving backwards towards the door, "I'll see you do there." And with that the older man left the room, closing the door behind him and Booth didn't stop the sigh of relief at being left alone.

It had meant a lot to him that Marcus was okay with his relationship with Bones, not that he thought Bones would stop seeing him if her father figure disapproved of it, she was too strong minded for that, but Booth liked knowing that he wasn't unliked by his girlfriend's family. With an uplifted mood and a grin to match he threw the covers off and hopped out of the bed to get ready for the day.

After taking a quick shower and getting dressed in jeans and a faded Rolling Stones T-shirt he existed his room pulling the door closed behind him, stepping across the hallway he tapped his knuckles to the door blocking his entrance into Temperance's room. A few moments later the door opened to reveal his partner dressed casually in black slacks and a blue blouse that brought out the color of her eyes, "Morning." He said with a grin and held out his hand to her.

She accepted his outstretched hand linking their fingers together, "Good morning." She replied and used her free hand to pull her door closed behind them, "Are you ready for the walk of shame that isn't really shame that I still don't understand but no longer care about?" she asked, and Booth couldn't hold back his amused chuckle.

"Yes, I'm ready." He replied with another chuckle and the two made their way down to the breakfast room, when they got their all conversation stopped and Booth could tell just by the looks that Marcus had in fact blabbed about his findings this morning. Everyone turned their amused glances their way before looking to their joined hands and Chloe and Samantha let out some girlish noise between a cheer and a squeal that was followed with one clap something Booth would never understand the need for a single clap, he wasn't even sure it counted as a clap.

"Good morning dears." Abigail greeted the pair as they made their way to the other side of the table and took their seats; even Temperance couldn't miss the 'cat got the canary' expression that graced the older woman's face.

"Good morning." The two said in return together which caused Chloe to let out an excited, 'aww'.

Booth groaned, "Alright, Bones and I are dating each other but we'd like it if you'd keep your 'ohh and awws' as well as your sighs and stares to a minimum." He stated and reached across the table to pick up the bowl of toast offering it to Bones first before taking a piece for him. "What's on the agenda today?"

"Shopping." Chloe was quick to reply and Booth didn't miss the nearly silent groan coming from his bedmate, "Lots and lots of shopping for the girls and for the kids and males white water rafting."

"What if the girls want to white water raft?" Brennan asked putting fruit salad onto her plate, she didn't want to write water raft after an incident she'd had a few years back, but if the only other option was shopping…

"If girls want to white water raft they can…you cannot though." Chloe said with a mischievous grin, "Nor can Booth decide to go shopping, he can stay at the house or go rafting, but those are the options."

"Can I stay at the house?" Brennan asked with interest.

"No, you only get the shopping option." Chloe replied with a no nonsense tone.

Brennan rolled her eyes but decided not to comment and instead focus on her breakfast Booth glanced at her with an amused but sympathetic expression knowing that she probably going to get grilled by their relationship status. Booth turned a warning glance to Chloe before moving his focus on his breakfast as well. "I'm good with going white water rafting, but are all the kids going to be okay with that?"

"Well." Parker spoke up, "It was our idea, we thought it up while you were upstairs with Dr. Bones." He paused, "Marcus said that you and Bones were together now, does that mean I can call him Grandpa Marcus now?" he asked, "And is Max my grandpa too?"

Booth felt the piece of ham lodge in his throat and forced a hard cough to work the offending object out of his throat that had lodged itself there when his son had asked the unsuspected question, "Uh…" He cleared his abused throat, "You know what, maybe we should discuss that later." He said quietly to his son, "Why don't you tell me about the white water rafting idea instead."

Parker sighed heavily like it was a burden to not know about the grandpa statuses, but then launched in detail the plans for the men and children for the day, "It's going to be all day, and Avery already said we were going to stop and get some of those disposable cameras that we can take pictures but it wouldn't be too bad if the cameras went overboard because they wouldn't be reusable. And the place is called…uh...K…Kull…Kennabec?" At Avery's nod he continued on, "Kennebec River Row, and its all day and there will be lunch and it's going to be so awesome!"

"Twelve miles, about 4 hours of water time, maybe more with the kids along." Avery took over and Parker went back to eating his breakfast but continued to listen to what he already knew, "We'll have to have two rafts, two kids and two adults plus a guide for each raft."

Booth nodded his approval, "Sounds good, and are we sure none of the woman want to come?"

"No way are we going to allow you to turn this into a white T-shirt contest where you accidently cause Tempe to fall in." Chloe accused jokingly causing the FBI agent to turn a deep shade of red.

"Booth wouldn't do that he has an honor code." Brennan replied, "And if that doesn't work then he has to attend Sacrament of Penance which is something I don't think he would really enjoy confessing."

Booth turned to her with an amazed expression, "You know what the term for confessional is?"

Brennan turned a light shade of pink, "Well I'm a genius, it isn't usual for me to know these sorts of things." Watching his expression waver a bit she relented with an almost embarrassed shrug, "However," she continued on more quietly, "I may have learned a few things about the religion that is so important to you. You'd asked me one time to stop talking about your religion like it isn't real because it's so believable to you so I researched the more Catholic prominent that I might better understand." She said, "But that doesn't mean that I believe." She added, and Booth found that he didn't care, he was just touched that she'd done any looking into his religion and not in an attempt to verify that it didn't exist or wasn't real.

"Thanks Bones." He said just as softly and reached out to take her hand in his for a moment of affection before going back to his meal knowing that she wouldn't be comfortable with a continuing display, she might be open and abrasive sometimes but this was new to her and he wasn't going to force public affection on her. "Need me to arrest anyone to get you out of this shopping torture?" he asked raising his voice to draw the attention of several people at the table, hoping they'd all take the hint and not comment on the couple's private moment.

"Oh please, you can't just arrest us because Temperance asks you too." Chloe said immediately with a glance at Christopher that basically warned him to hold his tongue, being the prankster in the group they wouldn't put it past him to say something.

Booth shrugged, "Hey if she wants a case, I do my best to get it for her. She wants her sister to get arrested for kidnapping her and a federal agent and leaving them in the wilderness without anything to protect them with…I can make that happen too." This time he added a look that suggested they think before they prank the duo or more accurately him again.

Chloe held up her hands in surrender, "I'm not the only one who was involved in that!" she proclaimed, and the rest of breakfast was taken in a very light and playful tone.

When breakfast was done and the group worked together to take the leftovers and silverware to the kitchen so Elise and Mitch didn't have to collect it, they split off to get ready for the day's events. Booth Parker and Brennan made their way to the stairways leading to their wing of the house.

They'd barely made any progress up the stairs before Parker bypassed Booth and grabbed Brennan's hand as they continued up the stairs, "Dr. Bones does this mean I can call Max and Marcus my grandpas now?"

"Uh." Brennan said giving Booth a glance over her shoulder, "I-Don't you think Grandpa Hank would be sad if you called someone else grandpa?"

Parker shook his head, "Nope, he said that it was only a matter of time until Max became my grandpa. Wait until I tell him that Marcus is going to be my grandpa too! I'm going to have three grandpas!" he exclaimed with excitement.

"Let's calm down Parker, Bones and I just started dating so we aren't even at the stage of marriage and merging families yet." Booth tried to let his partner off the hook.

"But Dad." Parker said with the patented kid whine, "We came on vacation with her, doesn't that mean we merged our families already?"

"He does have a point Booth." Brennan said, "Parker, I do not mind if you want to think of my family as your family. I've always thought of you as part of my family."

"Really Bones?" Parker asked in awe, "Because I always thought of you as my family too. You're the coolest and I tell everyone that you and dad are going to get together and it finally happened and Jason is going to be so mad."

"Jason?" Brennan asked, "Why is he going to be mad?"

"Jason is this kid in my class he always gets straight A's and is always raising his hand in class and stuff. But with your and Max's help I raise my hand too and he gets annoyed because he isn't always called on so it doesn't make him look as smart." Parker shrugged, "Wait until he finds out that my second mom is one of the coolest scientists in the world and she has other scientists who work for her, and she works with my dad who is an FBI agent…he already knows that though…"

"Wouldn't it be better if you were friends with this Jason person?" Brennan asked knowing from her past how cruel kids can be when they have an issue with someone who is different or smarter than them, and didn't want Parker to get picked on by a kid who was getting annoyed that Parker was taking some of the classmates' attention away.

"No way Bones!" Parker said with a violent shake of his head, "He's so mean and he thinks he's so much better that everyone. My friends and I stay away from him but it doesn't mean I'm not going to try to do my best in school just because he doesn't like it."

"That's very good to hear son." Booth interjected himself into the conversation as they reached their rooms, "But still Bones and I are just starting our relationship so don't go telling people that we're already married." Because he didn't need anyone scaring off the anti-marriage girl next to him. "

"But aren't you and Bones going to be together forever and ever?" Parker asked with childlike innocence.

"Of course." Booth answered without hesitation, "But that doesn't mean we want everyone else in our business right now, we don't want them to buy us wedding gifts before we even get married, or we'll end up with thirty blenders!"

Parker's eyes got wide, "That would be bad, okay I won't tell anyone that Dr. Bones is going to be my second mom, but I'm going to tell them that you're dating her, it's going to make Jason so jealous."

Brennan grinned though she didn't fully follow what was going on with talks of blenders and second mothers, "I'm glad that you are okay with the news of your father and I being together."

"Duh, Bones, I'm more than okay. I'd be even better if you'd get married though, so if you could go on maybe…" He tilted his head in thought, "five dates a night then you can get married in like a month because that'd be a lot of dates!"

"We'll talk about it, but we make no promises. Don't get your hopes up." Booth said, "Go put on your swimming trunks and put on pants and a shirt over them because I don't know the attire rules." Parker nodded and went into his room and Booth turned to his girlfriend, "Look, Bones…"

"Why would we get thirty blenders?" She interrupted.

Booth frowned, "Uh, I just said that so Parker wouldn't keep talking about us getting married, I know that you don't believe in marriage and I didn't want you to…panic." He shrugged helplessly.

Brennan studied him before shrugging, "Okay." She replied, "Just. I'm not as opposed to marriage as I used to be why my cousin came I realized that as long as there was a good reason to marry…I just think it's old fashioned and outdated, but I'm not as opposed." She explained, "But I'm also not willing to marry you just because your son wants to make Jason the mean smart kid jealous."

Booth nodded a small smile tugging on his lips, "I wouldn't want you to marry me for that reason either." He answered before growing serious, "Did you mean what you said to Parker about being family?" At her confused expression he continued, "About thinking of him as your family."

Brennan's face lost all confusion and she nodded, "You're the one who told me that there are more than one types of family." She reminded him.

"But, Parker's just a kid and I didn't think he'd made that much of an impact on you. Not that you didn't show an interest, you've always been very nice and accommodating to him. I just mean…you know, I didn't know that you thought of him as family." He said helplessly feeling like he was making a mess out of it and probably offending her or hurting her feelings somehow.

"Booth." She said very serious, "Parker is a very bright and well behaved child, he makes it very easy for someone to care for him." She replied with a small fond smile as she talked about the smaller Booth, "But even without all that going for him, he isn't just some kid, he's you son, and that already makes him special in my book…figurative book that is."

Booth was touched even as he smiled at the figurative book comment, "You know Bones, you're all heart right under being all brain, you're all heart."

"I can't be both all heart and all brain Booth." She said with an exasperated tone but he could tell she was amused.

"Layers." He said, "You have layers like ogres and onions."

"Ogres and onions? You're comparing me to ogres and onions?" she asked slightly offended.

Booth chuckled, "More like a movie, Shrek, we'll have to watch it with Parker some time, it's a kid's movie about and ogre who compares himself to an onion…because they both have layers."

Temperance narrowed her eyes at him deciding what to do with this new piece of information but shrugged, "Alright." She said, "This onion is going to go change for a shopping trip with the ogre and bigfoot."

Booth laughed whole-heartedly, "I'm really racking up those negative points in the boyfriend department aren't I?" he joked.

"Why would you be getting points? Points for what?" she asked now suddenly wondering what her point tally was.

Booth shook his head, smile gracing his face, "Not literal points, it was a joke." He answered and if reading her mind he added, "You get a 9.5 in the girlfriend points system, you get half a point reduction because you steal the blankets."

This caused Brennan to laugh as she backed into her room, "If you say so, have fun with the boys today, make sure Melanie doesn't feel left out. I'm not too surprised she's chosen to go with the boys rafting that go with her mother shopping." Brennan's tone had a hint of a whine causing Booth to chuckle at the unusual childness coming from his partner. "Her and Angela could spend a month shopping together, I should make that happen and maybe they'd both leave me out of it."

Booth leaned forward and captured her lips with his in a quick kiss, "Who knows, maybe you'll have fun." He said trying to be helpful, "I'll see you in a bit." At her nod they both returned to their separate rooms to prepare for the day's events.

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**Dun, dun, dun. Another one bites the dust.**

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the reviews last chapter, I luff you all! And no one is an 'update jinx'. And for me being behind on episodes **_maneu _****was correct about me having episodes to watch while you all suffer from hiatus. The reason the last episode I watched was the one where Brennan got shot was because a couple nights before that I hadn't even seen the episode where she gave birth, so I was saved the hiatus boo-hoo last year (even though my sister completely ruined it for me.)**

**I'll shut up now, just know that you're reviews really do keep me going and thanks so much.**


	22. Interrogation Party for Two

**So I guess I can never finish this story because I'm afraid some of you reviewers (you know who you are) will hunt me down and go all Annie Wilkes on me (Stephen King 'Misery'), I really don't want my legs broken, and I know that there is (maybe) another week of vacation, and then they have to go home, and apparently you'll are hankering for them to 'really get together' so I guess there is that too. Please don't break my legs Annie Wilkes style!  
I don't own them!  
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Brennan held back her desire to groan in frustration as Abigail and Chloe rushed into the four stores in two hours, Temperance and Samantha following behind at a less enthused pace behind. "Oh my gosh!" Chloe exclaimed rushing to whatever had caught her eye from the window, "I want this, I want this so bad." She said picking up the green and blue vase that would probably end up broken by her hyperactive children.

"So tell us." Abigail started, and Brennan sighed noticing the other girls closing in on her in the already small store, "How did you and Booth go from partners trapped on an island to romantic partners no longer trapped on the island?"

"We took the ferry, and then our rental back to the house." Brennan said with a slight smile on her face, knowing that wasn't what the older woman had meant. Receiving a glare for her misdirection she relented, "We were on the island as romantic partners."

"What, loner scientist says what?" Chloe asked, holding up her hand and nearly dropping the vase that brought them into the store in the first place.

Brennan turned a confused expression on to the other woman, "What?"

Chloe bit down the amusement that that reaction caused even though it was one of the few 'jokes' she knew that Brennan would always fall for, this time it had been the slip of the tongue, and she had more important things to know, "You're going to have to explain yourself."

Temperance rolled her eyes, "Booth and I had already decided to explore our feelings for each other before you guys thought it funny to leave us on that island. This, by the way, was brilliant if I do say so myself, making sure that Booth and I wouldn't be around when the last ferry left for the night."

"Thank you, and when did you decide to give this relationship a try?" Chloe fired back.

"Let's give Tempe some breathing room." Samantha said, "Why don't we go check out that guy shop, I bet it will be fun for a bunch of girls to check up."

Brennan, though relieved that someone was trying to get her out of the fire, wrinkled her nose, "Wouldn't it make more sense to welcome both genders rather than alienate half the population?" But she was already being lead out of the store by Samantha while Chloe and Abigail hurried to make purchases.

"Let's just go in, it might give you a break for a few minutes out from their interrogation." Samantha said as they entered the store, the men in the store barely paid them any attention, most likely accustomed to women coming into the shop to check out what a guy's shop was all about.

"Welcome to The Man Store." One of the employees said in greeting as Abigail and Chloe joined the pair, "Is there anything I can help you find? Perhaps something for the significant other?"

"I'm gay, and that's my partner." Chloe said, pointing Temperance out as her partner, "I'm the butch one of the couple so we're looking for things to outfit our house, my darling wife is being kind enough to let me pick out a few things to decorate some of the rooms, and what better place to look but here?"

The man looked at her with a startled expression, but shrugged it off, "Well we have plenty of manly things in this store, don't forget to check out the grilling section, we're having a sale on that." And with a nod to the group he turned and retreated.

"I'm sure you're husband would not approve of that." Brennan said, picking imaginary lint off her shirt, "But I will say that I found his startled expression quite amusing." The group separated looking things over, and Brennan found herself finding a few things that she thought Booth might like, which made her question when she started thinking about him so often. Deciding to blame Abigail and Chloe for questioning her about their relationship she shrugged it off before deciding to get Booth something anyway, he would probably get her something if their places were reversed, or at least she knew that Hodgins was always getting Angela things, and now she didn't know if she should get him anything or not. She couldn't ask Booth, because he was the object of her confusion and he was probably on his way down a river right now, squaring her shoulders she announced to the group that she was headed outside to make a quick phone call, ignoring Chloe's "Can't call Booth" comment.

Once outside she strode a little way down the sidewalk taking in the bright sun and clean scent of the air around her, sitting down on an abandoned bench she pulled out her cell phone to call her other best friend.

"Angela Montenegro-Hodgins Artist Extraordinaire." Was the overly cheerful answer when the forensic artist answered her office phone.

"Are you alone?" Brennan asked ignoring social niceties and skipping the greeting.

"Um. Hold on." Was the reply followed by a muffled conversation with a male that she assumed was Hodgins before Angela came back, "I am now, what's up? How is the book writing going or have you given up and found a beach babe to tango with?"

"What? Why would I…nevermind, Angela I need your advice." She responded.

Angela grew serious, "Alright Sweetie, what's going on? Do you need me to come up there and beat someone up? Because I will, just say the word."

"Angela, no. I need to know if I should get Booth a present or not, is that appropriate? Hodgins gives you presents all the time but I don't see you give him presents. I was dragged shopping and was thinking about getting Booth something, but I don't know…" Brennan trailed off as her friend interrupted with a squeal.

"Of course you should get him something." She said with excitement in her voice, "Sweetie, you should definitely get him something, I know that you and Booth haven't been right this year but maybe you can fix it if you both work at it and you're taking the first step. I love it. Yes, get him something. Wait, what are you getting him? It's not a skeleton or something is it?"

Brennan shook her head even though she knew her friend couldn't see her, "No, it's more of a…I don't know yet, we were in a store called a Man's Shop because Samantha wanted to go in, and there were all these things and I thought of Booth and I thought I might get him something. Are you sure it's okay for me to get him something?"

"Sweetie, I get Hodgins gets things from me, things that you just don't see." Something in her voice made Brennan not question her for fear of too much information that she didn't need to know, "You can't go wrong getting him something from that shop though."

"As for Booth and I not being…right…we've talked through that." Brennan added going back to her friend's previous statement.

"You have?" Came a surprised and skeptical reply, "Because when you left the two of you were still dancing around each other and…"

Temperance sighed, "Booth came with me."

"He what?" Angela practically hollered in her ear.

Wincing Brennan repeated her words, "Booth came with me, up to Maine, to visit old friends of mine with me. Parker came with him as well; I believe they are white water rafting which by the way is starting to sound a lot better than shopping. Though neither option sounded thrilling to me when I was presented with the choices."

"What, what, what!" Angela said, and Brennan could almost picture the artist holding up her hand for silence, "Booth went with you? When did that happen?"

"When I was leaving I found out his plans were canceled, so naturally I offered to bring them with me, I knew that there wouldn't be a problem with him coming." She said, "Everyone here has loved having them here."

"Of course they do." Angela said glossing over the fact that there were other people with the partners, "It's natural because you love him, just admit it Sweetie, it's not a bad thing."

"I know that." Temperance said, "I do love him, Angela, I love him enough that it scares me."

There was another squeal on the other end of the phone followed by a crashing sound, "Angela?" Brennan asked concerned, but there was no noise from the office until there was a sound of running steps and Hodgins concerned voice calling for his wife. "Angela!" Brennan repeated louder getting curious looks from some passersbys.

"I'm okay!" came the reply on the other end of the phone, "I dropped the phone and it shattered a picture frame that was on the desk, I'm okay though." Hodgins made a comment that Brennan couldn't quite make out before Angela assured him that she was fine, that it was Brennan on the phone and not a serial killer making threats. "He's gone, sorry. You said it. Oh my gosh, you said you love Booth, you have to tell him!"

Temperance bit her lip, "I did tell him, he knows. He returns my affections, so the gift idea is a good one then?" She asked.

"The gift? Idea? The gift idea…right, yes it's a good one. When did you tell him? When did he tell you? You didn't get married up there did you?" Angela asked trying to take all this information.

"Of course not, Booth and I have only now decided to explore our feelings for each other, it would be premature to get married right now." Brennan said with an affronted tone.

"Honey, four years ago it would have been premature, you guys have been headed toward this for a while now. Just remember you were my Maid of Honor during my first almost marriage to Hodgins so I get to return the favor, don't get married without me there." Angela said before Brennan heard Cam's voice in the background, "Sweetie I've got to go Cam needs me for something. But when you get back I want all the details, I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks." Brennan replied awkwardly, "I will talk to you soon." And with that she hung up the phone before heading back to the store to by Booth a present. Upon entering the store she found Chloe and Abigail once again at a checkout counter, but when they looked up they had guilty expressions on their faces. "What?"

"Nothing." Chloe said, "We just got Booth a present that we may or may not give him sometime in the future."

"What?" Brennan repeated.

"We just thought, you know, we would get him a house warming present." Chloe said looking embarrassed and holding the oversized package close to her.

"But he hasn't moved anywhere." She said confused and suddenly concerned that they knew something she didn't, which would be absurd since they didn't know Booth like she did.

Chloe and Abigail exchanged a look, "Well not yet." Abigail said joining the conversation, "But if your relationship progresses you might move in together, and if that happens we found a sign we thought he might appreciate."

"It's about a man cave." Chloe added.

"What's a man cave?" Brennan asked interested.

"It's usually a basement that a man makes all his own, like a big TV and bar…and gross man smells." Samantha interjected from her spot slightly away from the trio showing she wasn't any part of the two buying the sign.

Brennan shrugged, "Then he will probably enjoy it, it's nice of you to think of him, but we aren't moving in with each other we haven't been dating a week and it would be rather impulsive to move in with each other now."

"Of course, but if you do happen to move in together, preferably in a house, we have the sign." Chloe said moving away from the counter, "It's a done deal, so just forget about it until it happens. Are we done here?"

"Almost." Brennan said and found herself uncomfortable with the way her cheeks heated, "I've decided that I also want to buy Booth something and after talking about it with Angela, I've decided to get it."

**BBBBBBBBBBB**

Booth checked the straps on his son's life jacket one more time before helping him into the raft "Make sure that you keep your hands on the handle when the instructor tells you too. Are you warm enough because you're going to get really wet?"

"Dad." Parker whined like a child that was embarrassed by his parent, "I'm wearing a T-shirt and board shorts, I'm good."

Booth nodded and turned to Marcus that was the other adult in the group that was in his raft. Marcus had finished checking Melanie's life jacket before checking his own, "Good?"

Marcus looked up and nodded, "We're good here." Marcus then turned his attention to the neighboring raft that had Devin, Wes, Avery and Christopher in it, "All set?" Getting nods they waited for the instructors to give the okay that they could shove off.

The first half of the ride was only a little intense in some parts, but no one ended up taking a dive in the water, so Booth counted that as a success. It has started off calm but then the currents picked up and then there were some drops and other heart pounding twists and turns. Parker and the other kids managed to snag some pictures of everyone having fun when the currents were calm. When they picked up the kids did their best to get pictures with one hand while being instructed to hold on with the other.

Now with the rafts tied together and to the shore the group sitting in some grass eating the lunch that had been provided from them as part of the experience. "So about you and Temperance." Avery said, and Booth glanced at the kids glad that they were a little distance away happily chatting about the ride so far.

"What about us?" he asked and didn't bother to keep the defensiveness out of his voice.

"You're really dating this isn't just some short term thing?" Avery asked.

"Are you really dating Samantha?" Booth threw back.

"Point taken, but Samantha isn't your sister, so I still feel like I have the right to ask." Avery replied calmly.

"I love Bones, I'm in this for the long haul. As long as Bones will allow me to be in her life, she has me and when she doesn't want me in her life, she still has me." He said very serious, "I love Bones."

"You already said that." Christopher pointed out.

"I felt like it needed repeating." Booth shrugged, "Because Bones and my son are the most important people in this world to me, if anything were to happen to either one of them, I don't know if I could go on. I would be crushed."

Marcus nodded, "Then that is all we need to know." And his tone suggested that not only was that all Marcus really needed to know, it also suggested that the other two lay off the agent.

"It's okay, I like knowing that Bones has someone else watching her back." He said, "I'm not going to lie that it doesn't bother me that you've rooted around in my background, but I've done the same thing to exes of hers so I can't get to angry about it without being a hypocrite. But I'm glad that she brought me up here so that I got to meet everyone that's in Bone's life, I like knowing that she wasn't totally alone when she was growing up, and that if something were to ever happen to me, she has people she can turn to."

"And vise versa." Avery replied, "If something were to happen that we couldn't get to her, it's nice to know that she has someone so close that makes sure she isn't dating a serial killer." Avery said, "Not that we have to worry about that now, but it also helps to know that there is not only someone watching her back when she's with you hurting down killers, but also to make sure she eats and sleeps, and lives."

"You could stand to live a little more." Christopher threw at his brother.

"Samantha makes me live." Avery replied quietly, "So I guess Tempe isn't the only one who has opened up recently."

"I like her." Marcus said, "You've chosen well, would be better if you fell for someone who eats meat, but at least Tempe will have someone to share that with." He joked.

Parker ran over and practically jumped up and down next to his father, "Dad, let's take some pictures together so that we can show Bones what good time we had." He grinned, "Have you thought about dating her more than once a night?"

Booth gave a nervous laugh standing up, "I don't know if it counts as more than one date if we do it all in one night." He said, "What type of pictures did you want?"

"Um. Any! Oh, can we take some in the raft when we get going again? The rest of the trip isn't supposed to be as bumpy and we can take pictures with the view in the background." Parker said before handing his disposable camera to Christopher, "Will you take a picture of Dad and me?" Parker asked the other adult.

"Sure." Christopher said, and when the two Booth's 'posed' for the picture he grinned, "Say cheese."

"CHEESE."

After the picture was taken Parker ran over to Marcus and dropped down next to him, "Can I take a picture with you too?"

Marcus nodded wiping his hands on a napkin before slinging his arm around the young boy's shoulders, "Sure thing son." After the picture was taken Parker took his camera before running off to join the kids again. "That's a fine young boy you're raising."

Booth nodded, watching his son joke around with the other kids, "I like to think so."

"No thinking required." Marcus said, "He's a good kid, Temperance is always telling us what a bright child you have, and it's easy to see how she came to care about him so."

Booth nodded, touched, "Thank you."

"I hope all your future children turn out just as well, they'll be lucky to have an older brother like him." Marcus said offhandedly.

Booth flushed, "He'll make a great older brother, but if you're hinting about me and Bones…we're not…we haven't…we aren't…"

Marcus laughed, "I wasn't saying that you were, what you do behind closed doors is your business. I'm just saying that if you do happen too…do anything…and something resulted from that, it wouldn't be so bad."

"Bones will make a good mother some day." Booth agreed.

"Ready to go?" one of the guides came over to the group, "The rest of the trip is more gentle, should take about an hour depending on how long you want to look at the views is up to you." He said, "Then there will be pictures and videos of the trip that you may purchase if you like. We also have hot showers should anyone choose, and a hot tub and pool."

"Sounds good." Avery said, looking first around their group before turning to inspect the children's group, seeing they were done he clapped his hands, "Looks like we are all ready to go, We'll help take care of all this, and then we'll be ready to hit the currents."

The guide shook his head, "There is no need to worry about that, the staff that prepared the meal will take care of the leftovers and supplies, you paid to have fun."

Avery shrugged, "If you're sure." He said before standing, he turned his attention to the crew they had met when they made way to shore, "Thank you for the lovely meal, you've really done well to make our experience a good one."

True to the guide's words the second half of the trip was much calmer. Booth took a few opportunities to pose for pictures with Parker, Melanie and Marcus throughout the ride he could see in the other raft that the other adults were being subjected to pictures as well, the guide even posed for a picture with the kids.

"I can't wait to tell everyone at school about this." Parker told him with glee, "It would be even cooler if Dr. Bones was here too, but I'm glad that I got to spend time with you, dad!"

Booth nodded, "I'm glad we go to do this too."

Parker nodded, "But next time we save Dr. Bones from the shopping, she didn't look to enthused about having to go shopping today." His announcement caused everyone in his raft, guide included, to laugh.

When they got back to the Crab Apple headquarters they all piled out of the rafts and worked make sure everything was taken care of before entering the building. They made their way to the conference room and watched clips of the trip. Avery purchased copies of the video for each of them, much to Booth's protesting that he could buy his own copy and that him and Parker could share.

When they got back to the house they were informed that the girls were still shopping, they split up to take showers and when they regrouped it was down in the game room where they played games with the kids.

The phone ringing brought a temporary pause to the game, and Avery picked up the phone, "What who is this?" he asked apparently thrown off by whatever the caller had said, "Yes of course." There was a pause, "Samantha, why is a…what? Are you serious? Okay, I'll be right down." He said hanging up the phone and turning his attention to the group a serious expression.

"What?" Marcus asked, worry showing across his face.

"The girls have been arrested." Avery said.

**BBBBBBB  
I was going to make them in a store while it was being robbed and make it all dramatic, but, I thought this was better ending for all those who saw the preview for next week's finale that my sister was jerkish enough to make me watch. Don't ruin it for me though, because I'm still not nearly caught up to know what's current.**

**Anywho, until next time. Love hearing from you all, even if it is to say that I will never be finished with this fic in a way that makes me fear for my legs (Seriously watch Misery if you don't get that reference!).**

**Oh also, the Man Store and Crap Apple are real businesses, but I made the people up. The lunch was supposed to be at the end when they reached Crab Apple but I switched that up as well, I've never been to either place so I used my imagination. So there. But I did go to The Man's Store website to pick out Booth's gifts. **


	23. Red and Blue

**Hello! I don't own them!  
BBBBBBB**

"What do you mean they were arrested?" Marcus asked, tossing the controller he'd been using down to the table and standing up, "My wife was arrested?"

"I didn't get all the details." Avery held his hands up in surrender, also standing, "I told Sam that I would be right down so I need to get going."

"I'll go too." Booth replied standing up, wondering what all four woman could have done to end up in jail, if they truly were anything like Bones, then he could think of a few things.

Avery shook his head, "There's no need for all of us to go, I'm going to go down, pay whatever bail or fine I need to and I'll bring them home."

It's was Booth's turn to shake his head, "No, we'll both go, if this isn't some quick fix then maybe my gun and badge will help out."

Avery took only a moment to think about it before deciding that the other man was correct, "Okay, okay, you're right, I don't know what they've done." He said frustrated.

"Well if you two are going I'm going to make sure my girls are okay too." Marcus said in his no nonsense tone standing up and moving across the room, "Christopher stay with the children, make sure they eat dinner, don't have Elsie hold it on our account, who knows how long we'll be down there."

"Is Bones going to be in trouble?" Parker asked game now paused and all children watching the adults.

Booth shook his head, "I'm going to take care of it Bub." He replied, "You just stay here and play games and Avery, Marcus and I are going to go get her and the others and bring them home. Easy." He added before turning his attention to Avery, "I'll meet you at the car, I need to grab my badge and change out of these shorts." He said before walking briskly out of the room.

He'd made it upstairs and changed before his cell phone rang, thinking maybe Bones had managed to talk someone into calling him he answered, "Special Agent Seeley Booth."

"What's with the special answer Studly?" Angela's voice sounded on the other end.

Booth groaned as he put his gun it his holster and pocketed his badge, "Angela, I don't have time right now…whatever you need…I'll call you back."

"Hey." She said softly, "I know if that's what you're worried about."

He frowned, "Know? Know what?"

"About you and Bren, I'm happy for you." She gushed.

Booth let out a sigh oddly relieved that Bones hadn't called her to let her know she was in jail, "Thanks, but I have to go. My girlfriend managed to get arrested."

"Wait what?" Angela asked only half shocked, "I just talked to her a little bit ago, said she was shopping. How did she manage to get arrested?"

Booth shook his head more to himself then to the artist who couldn't see him, "I don't know, I'm about to find out though. I'll call you later." He said and without waiting for a reply he ended the call and rushed out the door to the waiting car. "Sorry." He said hopping in the back seat, "Let's go."

The ride to the station was rather calm then the mad dash to get to the car; the guys were tense but joked about who did what to land the girls in jail. "I'm just saying that Abigail is the sweet one, if anything it was her, she hit a police officer with her purse that holds everything in it, including the kitchen sink." Avery said.

"My money is on Chloe, she's always getting that mouth of her in trouble." Marcus said.

"It's got to be Bones; it wouldn't be the first time that I've had to work to get her out of trouble." Booth said, not at all upset at the prospect, it wasn't like Bones didn't mean well when she usually landed herself in trouble.

They lightly bickered about who could be to blame as they pulled up to the police station and got out of the car. They headed up the steps walking as a united front when they reached the counter, "We're here about the four women that were arrested." Avery said to the officer who was sitting at the desk reading through some files.

The officer finished reading the page of the file before looking up, "Four women?" he asked confused before resignation flashed across his face, "Oh those four." He nodded standing, "We're keeping them over night to sort a few things out, and you can pick them up in the morning."

"Sort what sort of things out?" Avery demanded, "You can't just keep them here, they've done nothing wrong!"

"Oh yes because I'm sure Hitler's family said the same thing about him…but as it turns out…" The officer shot back sarcastically, "Now have a good night, we'll have them call in the morning when they're released."

"Now listen, do you know who I am? I'm Avery Mead, if you're worried that I can't pay bail for all four of them I assure you I can pay bail for everyone in this station without breaking a sweat." Avery countered, ignoring the cheer from the corner where two bikers sat handcuffed to a bench.

The officer rolled his eyes, "While I don't doubt or care that you can do that, it's not up to me, and if you don't get your attitude under control you're going to find yourself in a matching cell right next to the ladies for the night."

"Listen to m-"Avery started again, but stopped when Booth placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Officer, I know that there are certain protocols that have to be followed, but can you tell us what they did?" Booth asked.

"Listen pal, I don't have to tell you anything." The officer threw back, "Why don't you just get out of my station and come back in the morning like the good little boy toy that you are?"

"Excuse me?" Booth asked pulling up to his full height, "Listen. Pal." He said pulling out his wallet and flashing his FBI credentials, "I'm FBI and you're currently holding one Temperance Brennan, that's my partner."

"She didn't look like no FBI agent." The officer said suspiciously trying to get a closer look at Booth's badge.

"That's because she isn't, she's my partner but she's a scientist with the Jeffersonian Institute and I'm sure that they wouldn't be happy to hear that you've arrested one of their top scientists…scratch that, she is their top scientist. So why don't you save yourself the paperwork that is going to come in from my place of work and just let her and her friends go."

"The FBI is working with scientists now?" The officer smirked crossing his arms, "Am I being Punked?"

"You're about to be punched buddy." Avery said under his breath earning a glare from the two other gentlemen with him.

"If we were going to Punk anyone don't you think we'd do it with a little someone higher up on the food chain? You don't believe me I'll give you the number to my boss and her boss and we'll see whose laughing in the morning." Booth shot back.

The officer looked unsure and shrugged, "I'll have to put in a call to my boss, you can take a seat…" he pointed to the empty chairs near the bikers, "There."

Avery and Marcus resigned to waiting started to move towards the chairs but Booth shook his head, "I want to speak to my partner." He said, "Take me back to the cells or take us into an interrogation room, but I want to make sure she's okay."

"She's fine; those crazy women are all fine." The officer scoffed.

"I'm entrusted with her care and if anything happens to her I have all of Washington D.C. on my back, you'd understand how that makes me want to see her with my own eyes right?" he said eyes narrowing.

The officer frowned not so amused by the situation, "Alright, man, I can see that I guess. She's some fancy scientist then, huh."

"She's the best and when she isn't in the lab working with old skeletons she's working with me solving murders." Booth said monotone.

"Wow." The officer said with new respect, leading Booth down the hallway to the cells. Marcus and Avery tagged along trying to make no notice of their presence since they weren't exactly invited, the officer pulled open the door leading to the cells and the trio stepped inside.

Inside of one the cells held the four women in question, Booth's eyes sought out his partner first seeing her sitting on the bench against the wall knees pulled into her chest, head on her knees looking forlorn. Samantha and Abigail were chatting quietly seated on the bench to her right, and Chloe was near the bars pacing back and forth, but it was Brennan who looked up first and caught sight of them.

Her eyes met his and lit up as she hopped off the bench and raced towards the bars, "It wasn't my fault." She insisted speaking directly at him, "This wasn't my fault."

Booth held back a chuckle despite the situation, "I believe you Bones." He said, reaching out and taking her hand through the bar once he reached them, "Are you okay?" he asked quietly looking her over for any visible signs of distress.

Brennan gave a small nod, "I'm okay Booth, I'm just glad you're here. This thing has been blown completely out of proportion." She said which earned a snort from the officer and Booth angled his body more firmly between the officer and the officer's view of his partner as if to say 'back off', "Chloe…"

"Hey, we all agreed that I'm not completely at fault here." Chloe said from her place at the bars, "I mean, I think I could have handled it a little differently, but when you're in the heat of the moment."

"Okay." The officer said, "You've seen the women you can tell that they are fine, let's get you back out to the waiting area while I go make some phone calls." He said, turning his attention to the women, "But prepare to spend the night in the station." With that he started to stroll out of the room.

"I'll get you out Bones." Booth said, before following Marcus and Avery out of the room.

The men followed the officer back down the hall and Booth supplied him with the phone number to the director of the FBI before joining the other two in the chairs, "They looked okay."

"Really?" Marcus asked with a smirk, "They all did? Because I think you only had eyes for one of them." He said with a chuckle.

Booth shrugged, "I checked them all out…briefly." He started, "But you're right, my main concern is Bones welfare."

Then men talked quietly among each other for a little while before another officer came out, "Special Agent Booth?"

Booth stood up, "That's me." He confirmed.

The officer nodded, "I'm Captain Winetoes, I've just gotten off the phone with your superior and he had nothing but good things to say about you and your partner. Said that I should do whatever you said regarding the women, but I got to tell you, I can't just let everyone out of my cells when there is wrong doing going on."

"I agree completely, why don't you tell me what's going on here and I'll tell you what my professional opinion is." Booth said.

The captain nodded before motioning for Booth to take his seat and taking one as well, "I'm sorry we don't have more private settings but we aren't equipped for anything large, we're just a small town that usually deals with its fair shares of minor criminal activity."

"That's alright." Booth said, urging the captain to move on.

"We got the call two hours ago that there was a disturbance at one of our local restaurants, it had started out with a few gentlemen harassing the women, and quickly escalated to your partner…" he said with a nod to Booth, "…and the blonde one." This time referring to Samantha, "sending the men on their behinds in some Matrix style moves."

"So…what you're saying is that men harassed the women and the women are the ones in jail for defending themselves." Avery hissed out.

"Well." Captain Winetoes cleared his throat, "When we arrived on the scene and attempted to discern what had transpired the dark skinned one throat punched Officer Higgins." The captain cocked his head towards the officer that they had been greeted by.

"Throat punched?" Marcus said, "Chloe throat punched someone?"

The captain coughed, "That would be what was put in our statements, yes."

Booth cleared his throat to cover the laugh that threatened to bubble up, "So then why are you holding the other three women if Chloe is the one that assaulted your officer."

"You're willing to leave Chloe behind?" Avery asked sharply.

"Of course not, I'm just trying to figure out why Abigail and the others ended up behind bars as well." Booth defended his course of questioning.

The captain held up his hands, "Listen boys we took them all in, they were all somehow involved in the public disorderly, so we brought them all in to sort it all out, truth be told we can let the three go according to their statements and eye witnesses statements they were just defending themselves, the other however we're still going to go ahead and process."

Booth glanced over to the officer who was pretending to read his file but Booth could see he kept sneaking glances at the group, "Wouldn't it be better to let her go maybe with a slap on the wrist?" He raised his voice for the other officer's benefit, "Are you sure you really want that press that a girl punched one of your officers? Because not only is Avery here one of the wealthiest man in America, but you've also arrested a famous author, that's bound to make news."

"Famous author? You're partner?" the officer said walking over to the group, "I mean, maybe it would be better if I didn't go ahead and press charges on the other girl."

Booth nodded, "I know the FBI would be grateful if we just swept this under the rug just this once." He turned his attention onto the captain, "It's something we wouldn't forget."

The captain nodded clearly getting the meaning and turned his attention to the officer, "Higgins go release the women from the holding cell and process their release, this was all just a misunderstanding that we'd all like to get behind us."

"Thank you so much for your help Captain Winetoes." Booth said standing once more and shaking the other man's hand.

A few moments later the men turned to hear the women walking out of the hallway and into the main area, Brennan locked eyes with Booth and rewarded his efforts with a small smile. He walked around the other group members and made his way to her, "You're sure you're okay? I hear you were putting some of your martial arts to use."

Brennan nodded, "I'm fine, Booth, I didn't really do anything special it was just a simple self defense technique. They wouldn't leave us alone even after we told them we weren't interested and then they said some really unflattering things about Abigail, and when one of them put their hand on my shoulder I just reacted." She frowned up at him, "Are you mad at me?"

Booth grinned and shook his head, "No. No I'm not Bones, however when we get home we probably have some explaining to do with Hacker since Officer Higgins called him to make sure we were the real deal. Why did Chloe punch him in the throat?"

Temperance shrugged, "I don't know, I didn't really see it."

Booth nodded slinging his arm around his partner, "Come on let's go home, Parker's worried that you're going to be in permanent time out or worse I'm sure." He joked, though he knew his son was worried that his favorite scientist was going to land herself with jail time. Walking out to the chair Booth turned to Chloe, "Slugger, where is your car and I'm really hoping you're not going to tell me it's been impounded."

Chloe shook her head, "No, it's still parked on the street across from the restaurant, and stop calling me slugger; I didn't see he was a cop until he was down for the count."

Booth laughed, "If you say so everyone pile into the car and we'll take you to your car." He said before frowning at the number of people and number of seats, "Actually Avery pop the back and I'll sit back there the woman can have the seat and…"

"I'll sit with you in the back Booth, it's very roomy back there and it's only for a couple of blocks." Brennan said and followed Booth to the back of the car.

Once they were all in Avery pulled out of the police station parking lot and unto the main road, "Man, wouldn't it be terrible if the cops got us for being overloaded and you two in the back not having seats or seatbelts?" Avery asked with a chuckle.

"You'd be going down too driver." Booth threw back.

When they got to the other car the girls and Booth all climbed out of the vehicle, Booth took a seat in the now empty back and they watched the girls pile into their car and followed behind them the rest of the way home as if ready for more trouble to strike.

When they got home it was after eight and Elsie greeted them in the main lobby, "I'm glad to see you got them all home in one piece, if you haven't eaten dinner is ready in the dining room."

"I'm starving Elsie, thanks so much!" Marcus said before turning to the group, "I don't know about you all, but I'm ready for a nice meal, one that doesn't end us all in jail."

"Oh ha, ha." Abigail said but there was humor in her voice as the group made their way down the hall and to the dining room.

They had only settled in the room when Christopher, Elsie, Mitch and the kids all piled in to hear the tail of the adult females landing in jail. When the story was told the women decided that they'd had enough excitement for the night and declared 'you don't have to go to bed, but leave us all alone' time.

Brennan was getting ready for bed when there was a tap at the door, when she opened it she revealed Booth standing on the other side, "Hey." She said stepping back to allow him entrance into her room.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked, "You looked so…down…in the holding cell."

Brennan nodded, "I'm fine I just kept thinking that I didn't really like being on the other side of the law, and that Angela and Jack must have been in a better jail to come out married."

Booth chuckled, "Angela and Jack are sometimes on another planet I think…not literally."

Brennan nodded and moved to her bags that she'd placed on the window bench, "I've done something that you probably are going to think is really stupid." She said turning back to him, and he forced his eyes from her bare legs to her face blinking in innocence, "Besides being arrested of course."

"Bones, you're never stupid." He replied moving over to her side of the room.

Brennan nodded accepting that since she was after all a genius, "Angela told me that it was a good idea."

"Which explains how she knows, I was being to think everyone we know are spies." Booth joked becoming more interested in this thing that she did.

Temperance smiled at him briefly before turning her attention back to her bags and sorting them out until she found the one she was looking for Booth saw the label on the side wasn't very fancy and it announced that it was from a shop called 'The Man Store', she held it out to him with an unsure expression, "It's something silly, I saw it and couldn't help thinking about moving those stadium seats to your apartment, I'm not sure if it's anything that you'll like but it mentions the Veterans Stadium…" she trailed off with a shrug.

Booth took the large shopping back and pulled out the an 18" by 18" framed wooden canvas frame, the background was painted red and it had all sorts of Phillies memorabilia written on it in white paint. It had Players names, dates, 1980, and Veterans Stadium and much more printed on it. Booth swallowed the lump in his throat knowing that his squint had retained the conversation where he told her about the time he went to the 1980's World Series with his father. "Bones." He said looking up at her.

Only she wasn't looking at her, but staring blankly at the canvas, "I thought that the correct year you went was the 1980s but even so I'm told it's a must have for any Phillies fan…of P-h-a-n as it was explained to me, I don't know what you would do with it, but I thought you might like it. Angela assured me that it wasn't a bad idea, although now that I think about it I probably should have told her what I was thinking of purchasing."

"Bones." Booth said trying to get her to look at him.

"I just thought that you've given me so many trinkets over the years that it might be a good idea to give you something in return, like a social contract going both ways. A gift, which Angela said that women give in relationships just like men do, and that just because I haven't seen her give anything to Hodgins doesn't mean that she doesn't, which I think means she's talking about having in-" she stopped when he interrupted.

"Temperance." He said, and she looked up at him, "I love it, I really love it." He said stepping closer to her, "It means so much to me that you remembered to even see it and think of me. It's a perfect gift for a girlfriend to give her boyfriend, and I love it. I love you, thank you." And with that he used his free arm to pull her to him and kiss her deeply really showing her his thanks, when he pulled away he looked down at the canvas again, "I'm going to hang this in my office so I can stare at it all day."

"Shouldn't you be working at your office?" She squinted up at him.

"I can stare at a picture and work at the same time." He defended placing the gift back into the bag for safe keeping, "I really do love it, thank you Bones."

Brennan nodded, "You're welcome…now get out of my room. I've been arrested and I want nothing more than to go to bed and pretend that it didn't happen because as fun as it is spending time with my family…it isn't so fun spending time with them in the slammer." Booth raised his eyebrow, "What? It's what Chloe called it!"

Booth laughed and kissed her again, "Alright, have a good night." He said before leaving her on her own.

True to her word, once he left the room she turned off all the lights and fell asleep quickly. It was pitch black in the room when she woke the next time, unsure of why she was awake she moved to lay on her back and stare at the ceiling when she heard the sound of someone moving across her room. "Bones?"

Brennan sat up in bed and turned on the bedside lamp, "Parker? Is everything okay?" she asked.

Parker blinked at the sudden light from his position at the foot of her bed, "Yes, I just wanted to make sure you were okay after you got arrested, were you scared?"

"No, I knew your father would come and get me." She replied without hesitation and knew it to be the truth, "Besides I also knew that I didn't do anything wrong."

Parker nodded, "I'm glad he got you out of jail, grandpa Marcus said they were going to keep you over night until daddy stepped in." he bit his lip and sat down on the edge of her bed, "Bones…can I ask you something without you getting mad?"

Brennan frowned, "I don't know without knowing the question, but I'm…pretty sure…that whatever you ask me won't upset me."

"I like your family." He started out, "But…can you, dad, and me doing something tomorrow maybe…just the three of us?"

Brennan tilted her head, "Of course Parker, I think that sounds like an excellent idea. How about the zoo?" she asked.

"I love going to the zoo, and it will be different animals because we aren't home." He said excitedly, "Can we please?"

Brennan nodded, "Of course Parker, but that means you need to get to bed so you'll be well rested to go tomorrow."

Parker nodded hopping off the bed, "Yep, good night Dr. Bones!" he said running to the door, he stopped just short of turning the doorknob and turned back to her, "I love you!"

Temperance smiled, "I love you, as well, Parker." She replied meaning it with her whole heart, "Now off to bed!" Parker laughed and rushed out of the room closing the door behind her. Brennan grinned at the closed door before turning the light off and when darkness settled around her and she closed her eyes she fell asleep with the smile still on her face.

**BBBBBB  
Insert random words here. Reviews make me happy! :-)**


	24. Zoo Keeper

**You asked for BB&P, you get BB&P. At least from me, clearly I don't own them or I'd have Parker in the show more often.  
BBBBBBB**

Booth was pretty sure the plaster from the ceiling was falling on him, so much for this overly expensive so called house having good construction. With a groan he shifted his position yet again burying himself in the safety of his comforter; it'd been harder than usual falling asleep the night before without his Bones by his side and he'd tossed and turned wondering what he was going to do when they got back to D.C. and back to their own apartments. He was growing accustomed to having her around more than just at their jobs and the first few nights were going to be long but he couldn't just ask to move in together.

Another cluster of debris fell on him and when he groaned in frustration he almost missed the faint joint laughter coming from the other side of the room. Shifting the bedding around he actually looked at some of the stuff that had been falling on his bed and discovered that it wasn't ceiling chunks but rather mini marshmallows. With his quickness he'd learned from his time in the army he sat up and tossed the covers back glaring at the offenders. Brennan and Parker sat on the ground, faces wide with shock, each with an arm frozen mid throw, "Uh. Morning." Brennan said as she and Parker lowered their arms, Parker stuffing his handful into his mouth.

"Good morning and to what do I owe such a wonderful very early wakeup call?" Booth asked picking a few of the mallows off his bed and popping them into his mouth before reaching over and turning on the bedside lamp.

Temperance stood up, "It's time to get up, we need to get going." She said in reply, and Booth noticed that both she and Parker were already dressed for the day, both in jeans and t-shirts.

"Wait, wait, wait." Booth ran a hand over his face, "Where are we going? I don't remember anyone saying that we were going anywhere." He said before a terrified expression crossed his face, "I didn't sleep through breakfast did I?"

Brennan laughed crossing over to the bed and dropping down on it next to him, "No, you didn't miss breakfast, but you're not going to get some if you don't hurry up and shower, we are going to the zoo after we go out for breakfast." Booth mentally winced at the thought of all the children and Christopher running around the zoo.

Parker hopped up on the bed too joining his favorite adults, "Isn't it exciting just you and me and Bones!"

Booth grinned, "That is pretty exciting when did these plans come to be?"

Brennan ducked her head, "Is that okay? Parker and I talked about it last night and thought a trip to the zoo sounded like fun if it was just the three of us."

Booth nudged her with his shoulder and grinned at her when she looked up, "I think it sounds fun Bones." He tossed back his covers and they landed on the marshmallow throwers, "I'm going to take a shower, you two should think about getting out of bed, the days wasting!" he laughed himself into the bathroom.

Booth hopped into the shower and when he was done in the bathroom he found his room had been abandoned, getting dressed quickly dressing in jeans and an old band shirt he pulled on his shoes when there was an excited knock at the door followed by, "ddduuuhhh—hhhaaad!"

Booth chuckled walking over to the door and opening it, "I'm ready where did Bones go?"

Parker grinned, "She went to tell Marcus and Abigail that we were going out on our own today." He said barely able to contain himself, "Isn't it great, we're going to go out and do just the three of us, like a real family."

Booth bite back an oath, "Parker, I love Bones, you know that right?" at his son's nod he continued, "I would like nothing more than for us to be a family, but she's my girlfriend and not my wife." He said, "Do you know what that means?"

Parker rolled his eyes but nodded, "I know dad. I know that you're trying to not get my hopes up that Bones and you will marry and give me a baby brother, but I think it's going to happen."

Booth smirked, "And what makes you think that?"

"Because you love each other." Parker said like it was simple, "And because Bones doesn't care if I wake her up in the middle of the night to talk, she'll be a good mom, you'll see."

Booth knew that Temperance would make a good mother having seen her with children before, and also the compassion she shows without realizing it. He thought back to when she wanted his…stuff…to have a child and now the possibility of that happening the right way could happen sometime. "I'm going to hope that you're right." He said, and he really was hoping.

Booth and Parker made their way down the stairs and were met by Avery who was coming out of the library, "Hey Booths." He said by way of greeting, "Thanks for your help yesterday; if it wasn't for you'd I'd be with my lawyers trying to get myself and the girls out of the slammer."

Booth chuckled, "I was a little worried that we'd be in the holding cell next to the girls, but the important thing is that we got our girls home."

Avery nodded and looked down to Parker, "So, I hear that you're taking our Tempe to the zoo, she _loves_ the snake exhibit."

Parker frowned and shook his head, "No she doesn't snakes make her uneasy."

"Huh." Avery said with a smile, "Look at that, two Booths who look out for the doctor, very interesting. You are correct, Parker, Temperance is afraid of snakes good to know you have her back."

Parker's chest puffed, "Of course, she's one of my best friends." He said as if it was an important fact that everyone should know.

Avery nodded, "Well, I hope that you and I can be friends too, since she is my sister."

Parker seemed to look him over very seriously before nodding, "We can be friends too."

Avery's grin turned childlike and Booth was struck with the fact that Avery had grown up in the foster care system, unlike Bones he'd been in the system for most of his childhood and early teens before the Pines came and pulled them out of the system. Avery's childhood had been full of mistreatment and lonely nights as he was in foster homes that weren't out for loving families most were looking for the check that came in the mail each month, his only solace was when Temperance showed up after her parents and brother abandoned her.

"I'm glad Parker." Avery said reaching out and ruffling the young boys hair, clearing his throat Avery looked away uncomfortable with how light hearted he was feeling, "Well, I have things to do before I can do anything with my own jailbird. You guys have a good time."

"Thanks." They said in unison and as they watched Avery walk out of the lobby, Temperance walked in nodding her greeting to Avery as she passed, "Ready to go?" she asked as she came to a stop in front of them.

"All set." Booth said taking hold of her hand as they walked out of the house, "Everything okay with us going?"

Brennan nodded, "Everything is fine, Chloe is going to take the kids and Wes to pick up their father and they are going to do something just them, and Marcus and Abigail are going to go golfing, Samantha said that she was going to trick Avery into doing a carriage ride so everyone has a day planned."

Booth checked to make sure his son was strapped properly into the back before getting into the driver's seat with a yawn, "Did you program the GPS?" he asked Bones who was putting on her own seatbelt.

"Yep." She said with a nod to the lit up electronic device, once satisfied with her seatbelt being secure she turned to look at Booth with a raised eyebrow, "It takes four hours to reach York Beach which will put us there around 10 if we don't stop, so I thought we could stop for breakfast in about two hours that way we don't need to eat again right when we get there, and then again early afternoon." She turned to look at Parker who bouncing in his seat with excitement "Is that okay with you Parker?"

Parker shrugged, "If we wait to eat we can have fun as soon as we get there because Dad won't be complaining that he's starving."

Booth rolled his eyes, "I'm not always hungry." He replied as he maneuvered the car out of the driveway and on to the main road, "But I think we should stick with Bones' idea because I don't want to get accused of eating a tiger." The car erupted in laughter.

Twenty minutes later Parker had his head pressed against the window quiet snores escaping, Booth glanced at him in the rearview mirror with a smile, "Guess some of the excitement tapered off for a little while little guy is passed out."

Brennan glanced in the back before turning to give him a grin, "He came into my room late last night, so he probably didn't get much sleep. It's okay that we are going right? I should have asked you, but Parker asked me when I was half asleep…and I have to admit that the prospect of spending time with the two of you sounded really nice."

Booth gave her a quick grin before turning his attention to the road, but he reached out with his right hand and clasped her hand in his, "Bones, it's fine, a little early for my taste, but since the drive is long I guess that couldn't be helped. But as much fun as I've been having with your family, I have to agree that getting to spend the day with just my two favorite people sounds really pleasing to me. As long as I eventually get some breakfast I'm a happy camper." He paused, "Actually, I'd be a really happy camper if I had coffee."

Brennan laughed, "I agree whole heartedly" she reached forward and tapped a few buttons on the GPS screen and soon the robotic woman was telling Booth where to turn, "There, we'll get some coffee and then we'll continue our trip to Portland for breakfast and York for some family fun."

Booth turned to her with a grin, "Family fun." He repeated giving her hand a squeeze before releasing her hand and returning his to the wheel. When he pulled into the parking lot he hopped out of the car while Brennan waited in the car with Parker. When he came back she rolled her window down and Booth handed her three bottles of water and her cup of coffee. While he jogged around to the his side she placed the water on ground near her feet, before taking his cup of coffee while he put his seatbelt back in and pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road once more. Taking his disposable travel cup from her and taking a long drink he sighed, "Better already."

They chatted together quietly for the first half of the trip, and when they pulled into a street parking spot near The Bayou Kitchen Parker finally woke up and looked around, "Breakfast?" he asked with a large yawn.

Temperance nodded, unbuckling her seatbelt and turning towards him, "Time for what the internet website Yelp said is some of the best pancakes in Portland, and that we shouldn't leave without trying it."

Parker grinned looking at his father through the mirror, "I love Bones she's so science-y."

Booth chuckled, "She is pretty science-y" he agreed getting out of the car and helping his son out on the mildly busy street, Brennan met them on the other side and they crossed the street together.

When they got the other side Brennan frowned at the pair, "What does that mean? That I'm science-y?"

Booth grinned his boyish grin, "Means that you didn't just tell the GPS to find us a place to eat, you researched it online like a scientist would. It's cute." He said dropping a kiss on the anthropologist's nose, "Parker and I love it."

Temperance rolled her eyes, "If the pancakes are as good as the internet implied than you may thank me and if not…well contrary to some people's beliefs, you can't believe everything you read on the internet."

The trio walked into The Bayou Kitchen that was surprisingly busy for eight o'clock in the morning; once they were seated they went over the menus. "What are you going to have Parker?" Booth asked.

"The pancakes, I want a whole bunch…and fruit." He replied excitedly looking around the busy dinner with interest.

"Bones?" Booth asked.

"Like any good scientist…" she started out with an amused smile, "I'm also going to try to the pancakes to see if they really are as good as they say they are."

Booth nodded, "I think I'm going to try the Cajun Scramble." He replied after looking the menu over, "Crawfish, andouille sausage, jalapenos and cheddar omelet." His mouth was watering in anticipation.

After the waitress came, took their orders, and brought back drinks they chatted about their plans for the day. Deciding to go to the animal section first while it was still cool in temperature, before checking out the more carnival side of the later when it was warmer, so they hopefully wouldn't be stuck in a too stuffy animal building.

When their food came they sampled each other's food deciding that it was probably true that these were some of the best pancakes in Portland even though they hadn't tried any from anywhere else. When they had their fill of food they paid the bill left a tip and headed back to the car.

Bellies full, and more awake the three chatted about what animals they most wanted to see and what activities they wanted to make sure they got to do before they left. The last leg of the trip seemed to take no time at all and soon they found they were pulling into a parking space –in the rear lot the internet recommended- and getting out of the car. Once out of the car Parker raced around the Audi and grabbed Temperance's hand, "Can we go see the tigers first?" he asked looking up to the scientist.

"Sure." She smiled down at him before her attention slide to Booth as he made his way to their side, "Tigers are up first, Parker declared it."

Booth nodded, "If he declared it that must mean it's something we should do, right Prince Parker?"

Parker laughed, "Right!"

The trio walked to the park entrance and Brennan paid for their tickets being the only one with cash all the while pointing out to Booth that she was the one that invited him and that the whole 'rule' where the men were supposed to pay for things was out dated and sexist.

"Which way to the bangle tigers?" Parker asked the ticket clerk eagerly.

The ticket clerk grinned at the excitement practically flowing out of the young child, "Well, you're going to take a right and then when you get to the funnel cake vender you're going to take a left head straight for about 30 feet and then take another left, if you see the snake exhibit, you're gone too far." He said and as Parker nodded with each direction the clerk's smile widen. He turned his attention to Booth and Brennan, "Most kids are excited to see the animals, but they usually just ask for the animals or the rides, never by the braid of animal, not while during my shift anyway. You've got a very bright son there, you must be proud parents."

"Oh we're proud of him." Booth said with a grin, before Brennan could cut in and tell them that they weren't really a family, and part of him knew that he was forcing her into his family but it was just for a day, and it was something he'd wanted for so long. A family…with his Bones and his son…and any other children that God may bless him with.

"Have a wonderful day." The clerk said before returning his attention to the line of families that were waiting to come in and spend the day in the zoo.

Booth lead the doctor and his son away from the gates and lines and followed the directions towards the Bangle tigers, when they got to their destination there wasn't a huge crowd and Booth was thankful that Bones had woke him up early so they could beat the crowd for at least a little while.

"Wow! Look their all white!" Parker said excitedly walking over to the fence that separated the humans from the wild animals. "Bones why are they all white and not orange?"

Brennan looked at the tiger and tilted her head, "They have a recessive gene…a mutation…that causes them to be white instead of orange that you are used to seeing. Some people think that it means that they are albino, but they have strips so that means it's just the gene and not that its albino." She explained, unfazed that some of the other people in the area moved in to listen to them. Booth, however, did notice and maneuvered his family closer together. "Another indicator that they aren't albino is that they don't have pink eyes. The tiger's parents could have been orange tigers; they just had the gene for the mutation and passed it along…kind of like how you have blonde hair."

"Cool." Parker said, and some of the other children echoed his sentiments. Parker snapped a few pictures of the tiger before looking towards the adults, "Can we go see the butterflies I bet Bones wants to see the butterflies."

Booth turned to Brennan who nodded, "Sure, Parker, I'd love to see the butterflies if you are done looking at the tigers."

Parker gave one last look at the tigers before nodding, "I'm ready." And the trio set off once more, Booth noticed that some of the others followed but was unsure if they were just coincidently headed in the same different, or if they'd decided Temperance was their unofficial tour guide.

When they reached the Butterfly Kingdom Brennan and Parker made a game out of who could spot the most butterflies with there being several dozen different butterfly species they had a blast, Bones giving off what little tidbits that she knew about them, which was surprisingly a lot, and Booth wondered if she read encyclopedias when she was younger and just retained all the random information.

When they'd had their fill of the butterflies they made the rounds to the 'petting zoo' part and petted the goats, much to Booth's embarrassment both Brennan and Parker took great amusement when one of the goats decided to butt Booth and knock him over. Booth swore that when he looked up the goat was just standing in front of him with an expression that said, 'what? I'm a goat, what are you going to do about it'. When he told his companions his suspicions they both doubled over in laughter, after the goat incident they hand sanitized before moving on to feed the ducks.

Moving on to the deer exhibit they made their way to the dispenser to get some feed for the deer, and Parker and Brennan once again laughed at Booth's expense when he put the quarter in the machine and the deer took the food right out of the machine. After waiting for the two to calm down Booth enlisted Temperance into holding her hands under the dispenser and blocking the deer from access, and they finally got some feed that Booth watched fondly as Bones and Parker took turns hand feeding the deer with.

Since they had made their way to the back of the zoo section they stopped off to see the black bear and bob cats before deciding to head over to the elephants where Booth and Parker rode one of the elephants and Brennan snapped several photos, but declined to ride one herself stating that she'd done so in the past on one of her expeditions and didn't want to repeat the experience.

After their riding experience they had a quick lunch from one of the food stands and Parker pleaded to go ride some of the rides, and the adults watched from the sidelines as he rode several of the kids' rides.

"This is fun." Booth said wrapping his arm around his partner and pulling her close, "I'm glad that you and Parker came up with this."

"You smell like an elephant." Brennan said in return and Booth felt her silent laughter and knew there was a comment coming, "Guess we go well together, elephant and bigfoot."

Booth laughed and tightened his arm around her briefly in an affectionate squeeze, "We do go well together Bones, it's what I'm always saying."

"Booooooooooonnes." Parker yelled as he spun in their direction on the carousel, Brennan looked over and waved smiling. When he came around the next time he called out "Daaaaaaaaad" getting a laugh and another wave.

A few more rides and Parker started complaining that he was hungry and much to Temperance's amusement Booth started echoing his sentiments. "Are we done here?" Booth asked Parker and at the boy's nod he turned to Bones, "We could go find a nice sit down restaurant…with air conditioning and have dinner before we head home."

Brennan smiled, "Yes it has gotten rather hot, and air conditioning would be a nice welcome."

In the end as they were driving around for a good place to eat Parker saw a fun looking sign that belonged to Wild Willy's Burgers, and they ended up eating there. The atmosphere was fun and inviting and the boys got a kick out of the food, Booth opting to go with the 'Bubba BBQ' burger that was a zesty BBQ burger with bacon, onions, cheddar, and pickles. Parker asked for the 'Willy Burger' which was more of a classic style hamburger, but the most amusing to the boys was Brennan's choice, 'the cactus' which was the veggie burger.

While they ate they chatted about the food, the zoo, and the rides before long they packed up and got back on the road to start the four hour trip home. Parker spent the first hour reliving every moment of the day for the adults, but it wasn't long before he was once again sleeping in the back seat.

"It was a good day, one that I'm sure that Parker isn't going to forget anytime soon. He's probably dreaming about it right now." Booth said, and when he didn't get a reply he glanced at his partner and grinned, "And so are you." He said quietly, and was content to drive his family back to the Pine House while they rested.

When he pulled into the driveway of the Pine House the motion detector lights came on which caused Brennan to stir, "We're baaack." Booth sang causing her to blink blankly at him, "Morning sleepy head."

"It's night." She said confused, "Why didn't you wake me up? I didn't mean to fall asleep on you."

Booth shrugged, turning the engine to the car off, "Because you were too adorable to wake up, besides yesterday you were arrested, and today you spent all day at a zoo so I thought maybe you could use the rest."

"That was very nice of you." She responded pulling off her seatbelt and getting out of her car, when she came around to the other side Booth had already gotten Parker out of the back seat and the child was in his arm barely awake.

The trio made their way inside, with a nod to Marcus who was also heading up to bed, "Have a good time?" he asked quietly aware of the only just conscious young Booth.

"It was a very good time." Brennan said, "But I think we're all going to head up to bed, it was just as long day as it was fun."

"Have a good night, and we'll see you at breakfast." Marcus said stopping his forward motion as he arrived at his own bedroom.

Temperance followed Booth into Parker's room and helped get him into the bed, Booth pulling off Parker's shoes and Brennan tucking the covers around him.

"Will you read me a story?" Parker asked sleepily, blinking up at them.

Booth and Brennan exchanged a look, and while Booth crossed the room to grab one of the books they purchased from the zoo gift shop Brennan climbed on the empty side of the bed and settled in for the story. Booth barely made it through three pages before Parker's soft snores settled around the room, closing the book he stood and stretched before moving to the bed and holding his hand out to Temperance.

Brennan took hold of his hand and let him pull her out of the bed, they exited the room together Booth pausing only to turn off the light and shut the door before walking the short distance back to their rooms.

"I had a good time." Brennan said when they reached their doors, "I'm glad we did this."

"Me too." Booth said fighting a yawn, "It was good day." He said with a smile.

Brennan took a step towards him and pressed her lips to his before reaching behind her and opening her door, "I'm going to go shower and go to bed, you should probably shower too, because you smell like an elephant." She laughed.

"Goodnight Bones." He said with a smile going into his own room.

Twenty minutes later Temperance was showered and just about to get into bed when there was a knock on the door, half expecting it to be Parker with an idea on how to spend the next day she opened her door and wasn't too surprised to find Booth on the other side, "You smell better." She said in way of greeting.

Booth chuckled before growing serious, "So, I don't want to freak you out or anything, but…can I sleep with you? I missed you last night, and I promise to stay on my side of the bed and let you steal all the covers, and I missed you last night."

Brennan cocked her head to the side, "You said that once already."

"It beared repeating." He shrugged, and gave her his best puppy dog expression.

Rolling her eyes she stepped away from the doorway to allow him entrance into the room, he stepped inside with a wide smile and closed the door behind him. "Thanks Bones."

Brennan who, had already crossed the room and was climbing into the bed smiled, "I missed you last night too I find your presence is comforting."

Booth laughed climbing into bed and flipping the light off, "I like having you around too Bones."

**BBBBBBBBBBBBBB**

**So. I watched Family Guy and David Boreanaz made a special appearance (it was like the Christmas episode from like 2010) it was too cheesy and funny. I squealed like a school girl; don't know why I'm telling you that. Anywho, this is all you get because I'm exhausted and I have to be up early in the morning.  
Thank you so much for the amazing abundance reviews from the last chapter, and thanks for all the new favorites and follows. You guys rock!  
See you soon with another chapter!**


	25. Whoop There It Is

**I clicked it on in the last three minutes and watched about 30 seconds of it. I'm going to cry all summer and I don't even know what's happened since she's been shot!  
I don't own them, if I did I would make Booth train my puppy because it's about the size of Booth and it's only ten months and…jeeze. I don't own them.  
BBBBBBBBBBB**

"Marcus, we have to stop meeting like this." Booth said with one eye open, glancing up at the man who his girlfriend loves like a father. His girlfriend that was once again curled around him, her limps mixing with his limbs in a tangle of body parts, her warm breath on his neck as she slept peacefully unaware that Marcus had once again came into their room.

Marcus 'hmmm-ed' in response, "You know, if you two would pick a room and stick to it, it would make my mornings so much easier."

Booth blinked up at the other man, trying to release the fuzzy feeling in his head, "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you needed to know which room Bones and I were in. Is it like a room check thing, or…."

"Oh, ha ha." Marcus rolled his eyes, and crossed his arms, "Well I was looking for you to see if you wanted to join the family, but now…" He trailed off rolling his eyes once more.

Booth knew the older man wasn't really angry, but played along, "I'm sorry, where is it that you wanted me and Bones to go?"

Marcus shook his head, and Booth didn't miss the sad look that flashed across his face before it was gone in the next instant, "She won't go, there's no need to beat that horse, it's already dead." And at Booth's confused and slightly horrified expression at Brennan being compared to a horse that was beat, Marcus explained, "its Sunday, son, I was under the impression you were religious we thought maybe you'd like to come with us."

Booth was touched and slightly shocked that he hadn't realized that today was the holy day, "I'd love to come, I need to wake Parker…"

"Already awake, dressed and eating breakfast." Marcus retorted, "Those kids have been up for about an hour. We leave in half hour, is that enough time for you?"

"Plenty, thank you Marcus." Booth said with a smile and looked down to his sleeping girlfriend wondering how he was going to get out from underneath her and untangle their limbs without waking her up. It was so rare for her to actually get a good night's rest that he was loath to wake her. Marcus snorted seeing his predicament, told him that he'd see him in a bit and left Booth to his own rescue and release of his own body.

"Booonnnes." He said softly hoping to wake her enough that she would move but not enough to wake her fully, "Bones, baby, I need to get up and go to church." Brennan made a grumbling noise and buried her face in his neck, her hair tickling his shoulder. "Dr. Brennan."

Brennan's eyes snapped opened he could feel her lashes on his neck and she moved her head to look at him, "Booth?" she asked confused.

Booth grinned sheepishly at her before giving her a quick kiss, "Sorry, baby, I need to get up to go to church with your family, Marcus just came in and asked me and I'd really like to go."

Temperance nodded, "I don't mind if you go Booth, I know that your religion is very important to you." She slowly pulled her limbs away from his before settling back down on the pillows, "Have a good time…do you have a good time? I would assume otherwise people wouldn't go back week after week." She frowned looking up at him as he sat up looking down at her with an amused expression.

"It's…complicated, it's educational, we learn about our Lord and what we have to do to get into heaven as well as getting help to be forgiven for our sins." Booth replied, "You could come."

Brennan shook her head thinking of the last time she went with him, "I'll believe you that it's fun for those who have your faith, I'm going to stay here and relax."

Booth didn't know why, but he felt like those words coming from his partner's mouth should be filed under 'famous last words', he smiled however and leaned down to give and receive a very pleasant 'good morning' kiss, "I'll see you in a few then." He said with a grin and got out of bed.

"See you." She replied and as he closed the door behind him he caught a glimpse of his partner curled into a ball on his side of the bed and smiled, his thoughts light while he showered and dressed for the day.

He made his way quickly down to the breakfast room and grabbed a muffin off the table nodding to his son, "Morning Parker, are you all set for church today?"

Parker nodded, "I sure am, is Bones going to go too?" he asked, looking behind him towards the doorway expecting to see his dad's girlfriend and partner come through the door.

Booth shook his head, "No, Bones doesn't believe and we have to respect that, right now she believes that her pillow is her new best friend, and I'll let the pillow think that until I return." He said electing a few laughs from the people settled around the table.

Turned out that everyone but Bones and Avery were going, Wes' father Morgan even made his first appearance so they ended up taking three cars to the church service. Booth found it rather pleasant was glad to find that Bones family were Catholics, he slipped into the confessional before church began to get a few things off his chest, like his sin of thinking about his partner…girlfriend…the way he had been now that he was officially allowed too, Bones was testing his sexual patience and he couldn't say that he minded that much at all.

After confessional he slide into the wooden pew next to Parker and besides Chloe and her brood, her husband having suffered from jetlag decided not to come. The service was long and the kids were glad when it ended, Booth enjoyed the service and the patrons treated him and Parker as well as all the others like they belonged to the church family even though none of them lived there on a permanent basis so it wasn't their usual church.

By the time church was over it was going on one o'clock, deciding that they would order pizzas for lunch much to Elise dismay at the 'fast food' even though the woman and her husband had joined the family at the church services. Christopher and Booth elected to pick the pizzas up.

When they got home Booth, Christopher, Parker, and Dylan carried the six large pizzas in, they'd made it to the library door when they heard Avery's bark of laughter, Booth looked in to see Avery leaning on the found of his desk arms crossed over his chest, when Booth shifted his position he saw the source of amusement.

Brennan and another man, whom Booth assumed was Walton Chloe's husband, looked to be playing twister though there wasn't a sheet with colored dots on the ground, the positioning of their bodies looked similar to those who would be involved in the game.

They took the pizzas to the dinning room and Booth volunteered to go get the rest of the gang, if only to discover what they were doing, his jealous side flaring up. When he made his way back into the library he found his girlfriend and the other gentleman weren't there, but Avery was, "Hey its lunch time, where's Bones?"

Avery blinked up at him from the paperwork he was filling out, "You just missed them, they took one of the four wheelers out for a spin…her and Walton." He clarified standing, "Don't worry, Walton is a master at maneuvering them so she's in good hands." He said clasping his hand on Booth's shoulders, "Let go eat, I'm starving watching those two."

"What were they doing when we first walked through?" Booth asked, and at Avery's confused look he illuminated, "They looked like they were trying to be one joined human pretzel."

Avery's confusion stayed in place for another couple of seconds before it lifted and was replaced with a look of fond amusement, "They we're trying to settle a bet they made a few months ago." Avery said walking towards the door, "Don't worry about it, it was something silly and meaningless." He shrugged.

Booth knew that Bones was entitled to her personal life, and that he had no reason not to trust her, but he couldn't help his possessive side from coming out and wanting to know why the other man was touching her, even though he knew that the other man was like a brother-in-law to her, he couldn't help his feelings. But he also sensed that he wasn't going to get any information out of Avery, and decided that the other man was right and that it was something that didn't matter. Booth shrugged and followed Avery down to the dining room where they all enjoyed pizza.

Booth was on his third helping when Bones and Walton came in laughing, "You should have seen it." Walton started out by way of greeting, "We were sitting at the top of the hill and got caught in the mud slip and started sliding backwards ass first going down the hill and Tempe is screaming like a girl." Walton said to which Chloe replied with 'Kids' and he ducked his head apologizing, "Don't repeat that word kids." He said, "But anyway, I get the four wheeler back up the hill mud is flying everywhere, but Tempe screaming like a scared little girl is going to be burned into my mental photo album forever." He said dropping down in his chair next to his wife and kissing her cheek before grabbing a slice of pizza.

Brennan rolled her eyes, "First off I am girl so I fail to see what the big deal is if I scream like one, I feel that it should be an insult but fail to see how it is one, secondly, you gave a little shout of panic as well." She retorted settling in a chair next to Booth who gave her a tight smile causing her to frown, "Are you alright?" She asked quietly leaning into him.

Booth gave himself a mental shake and nodded his head taking her hand in his, "I'm fine, I'm glad that you're fine too." He said with a soft smile, "Grab a slice of pizza before Parker eats it all." He joked lightening the mood between the two; it wasn't her fault after all that he couldn't handle a little bit of jealousy.

Brennan eyed him with doubt but decided that the lunch table was not the place for further discussion on the matter, she reached into one of the pizza boxes and pulled out a slice of plain cheese before turning her attention to the conversation around her, apparently the kids had all decided that it was a stay at home sort of day because they all declared it pool time after lunch.

With lunch over with the group threw the empty pizza boxes out and set about getting ready for swimming, the D.C. trio made their way up the steps and Parker raced into his room to change, Booth and Brennan both opened their separate doors but before Booth could enter his he was pulled into Brennan's room. "Wha…"

"What's wrong?" she cut him off, closing the door behind them, "And don't tell me nothing or suck me off, I know that something is off."

"Suck…Uh, Bones." He said turning beat red, "The phrase is 'blow me off' don't say it the other way alright, I don't want anyone taking advantage of your lack of pop references." He said with a low groan because now he was feeling the need to visit confessional again.

"Suck, blow doesn't matter, you're doing it." She said with an unBrennanlike pout crossing her arms over her chest.

Booth sighed placing his hands on her arms and stepping closer, "Nothing is wrong, I was being a stupid alpha male, but nothing is wrong."

"I don't know what that means." She said with a sigh but didn't pull away from him either. "Being an alpha male about what?"

Booth sighed taking his hands off his girlfriend and using one to run over his face, "Come on." He said, taking hold of her hand and leading her to the bed where they sat down together bodies angled towards each other, he repositioned their joined hand so it was more comfortable with the new position and looked at her, "It means that as irrational the thought, the thought of you spending time with another man that isn't me…" he trailed off looking away with a shrug, "Look." He said and for a second she thought she was meant to look at the floor like he was, but realized he didn't actually want her to look at anything, "I know that you don't hold traditional values because you don't like what marriage and everything stands for, in the old days it meant that the man owned the woman, and I don't want you to think I think that, but…"

He stopped when Brennan placed her free hand on their joined ones, "Booth." She said and he turned to look at him, doubt etched in his expression, "Booth, you were feeling jealous of Walton?" at his nod she smiled at him, "Walton is like my brother by extension because he is married to Chloe who I would never want to hurt like that, and I'm committed to you."

"I know, I just…" he shook his head, "I know I'm sorry."

"Booth, my past makes it hard for me to trust people." She said and could read in his expression that he didn't know where she was going with this, "I don't like the thought of letting people in because I feel like they will leave, and past relationships haven't done much to disprove my fears." She said and he knew he was speaking of Sully, he opened his mouth to dispel her fears of him doing the same but she shook her head, "I know that we've talked about my past relationships and you know that I've tried dating more than one man at the same thing." And Booth couldn't hide the amusement when he remembered how that hadn't worked out.

She looked at him in that squinty way of hers before continuing, "Booth, throughout the years you've shown me that there are different types of family. You, Cam, Angela, and Hodgins are my work family and I don't know what I would do without any of you, but more than that, none of you have left me. Sure part of that could be because of the paychecks everyone receives, but I also know that if there was a bug in my apartment I can call Hodgins to come get it, and he would in a way that makes me fear for his sanity as he walked out the door talking to his new pet. Or if I wanted a girl's night Angela and Cam would be there, and if I wanted anything under the sun, you would be there. And Booth I know what I want under the sun, Booth I want you, and only you."

Booth grinned and reached for her but she pulled back, "Booth my past makes it hard for me to trust people that they aren't going to leave." She repeated at his frown, "Just like your past makes it hard for you to trust that I'm not going to do something to ruin this. Not on purpose and not just because you're afraid I'm going to fall back on what has always worked for me and run. But Booth your past if full of women who didn't know the real you or they didn't appreciate it, and that makes it hard for you to know that I'm not going to go after the next guy that meets my eye even though logically you know that isn't something I would do." She smiled at him, "We just have to work together, like you said, I'll talk to you when I feel like I'm overwhelmed by this and you'll talk to me when you feel like I'm going to hop Mr. Bray."

Booth raised his eyebrows, "Any reason that you choose Mr. Bray over any of the other interns?" he joked, skipping over the fact that she said hop instead of jump.

Brennan grinned, "Well he is very pleasing to the eye his structure is rather pl-" her words were replaced by a squeal as Booth lunged at her pining her to the bed, "of course he doesn't hold a lamp to you."

"A light, he doesn't hold a light to me." He said before capturing her lips with his own to let her know just how possessive he could be, when he pulled away moments later their breathing was heavy and Brennan had that foggy just 'mind blown' look on her face, "I love you."

She smiled up at him, "And I love you as well Booth." She said before a look crossed her face and she tilted her head.

"What?" he asked moving his weight unto the arms so he wasn't pinning her to the bed.

"I was just thinking that in all these years my thought process has shifted to include you into what I do." She replied and at his confused expression she expanded her answer, "Without me realizing it, I've taking your feelings into account when I make decisions that could affect us both, I stopped seeing Andrew because I knew that you didn't like it. As it turns out, and if you ever repeat this I'll deny it and then shoot you, but, a part of me already belonged to you." She frowned, "No, that doesn't make sense and I'm the genius."

Booth laughed softly at her self-doubt at something she wasn't a master at, "No, I get it, it makes perfect sense and it was really sweet of you to say." He said, "I won't tell anyone that you said it, but if it helps, I've always belonged to you, I'm with you all the way. I told that to Cam when she first joined the team and I'm telling you now, it's always you. You and me we're equals, so if you give yourself to me then you get me in return, okay?" she nodded, "Thank you."

"For what?" she asked as he took hold of her hand and gently pulled them both back so they were sitting again.

"For not being upset that I acted like a jealous blockhead, for using that squint brain of yours to tell me that you understand that I have my own fears." He said with a small grin, "You're right, I haven't had the best record with previous relationships, and I feel like I'm just not offering anything good enough, Rebecca didn't want me, you didn't want me, Hannah…but you've…we're…I'm starting to feel like I have something to offer after all."

Brennan nodded, "You do Booth, you have so much to offer I'm not even sure you realize it all, and I'm sorry that I was too scared to take you up on your offer to see where this would take us, a part of me wonders what our last year would have been like if we'd taken that leap….if I had taken that leap, but I was scared, Booth it wasn't that you didn't have anything to offer, it was that I didn't know if I had anything to offer. I'm used to comfortable one night stands, to relationships that involve the sexual aspect but not the romantic, my two attempts at real romance blew up in my face, and you were to important to take that chance with, I didn't want to lose you." She said, "You still are important don't get me wrong, but I'm starting to see that maybe you were correct that we are metaphorically made for each other. I want it all with you, I want to take the third chance at a romantic relationship because I hear that third time is the lucky charm, and even though I don't really understand that statement because it can't possibly be true, I want that chance to be with you. I want you, Booth, just you."

Booth gave her his trademark boyish grin, "I want you too Bones."

Brennan nodded, "Good, that will make our relationship a little smoother I'm sure, that we have a mutual want of each other." She leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss on the lips and even in its shortness Booth still was glad he was sitting for it made him a little weak in the knees, "Now let's get ready for swimming, and you can meet Walton, who is married to Chloe with two beautiful children and he loves them all so very much."

Booth chuckled standing, "Alright, alright I've got no competition here." He said and threw her a joking stare, "However, I'm going to have to shoot Wendell when we return home…just in case." He winked at her to let her know he was just kidding.

Brennan rolled her eyes and pointed to the door, "Go get changed before I have your scan card disengaged, and you have to wait for Wendell to let you up on the floor with us."

Booth gave her a horrified look and hurried out of the room leaving her to change into her swimwear as well, and when she pulled her door open and stepped into the hall both her Booth boys were waiting for her, "I'm surprised you aren't down trying to become fish already."

Parker shook his head and slipped himself in between her and his father, sliding up her side so she was forced to wrap her arm around him, not that she minded in the least, "Of course not Bones, we wanted to wait for you." He said and Booth wondered if Parker had felt the tension between the pair and was feeling a little jealous of the new person in the house as well.

"I'm glad you waited for me." Temperance replied, "It's nice to know that I don't have to walk down to the pool by myself, and that my favorite person in the whole world is right next to me."

Parker grinned and Booth gave them both a false wounded look, "What about me?"

Brennan and Parker exchanged amused glances before replying in unison, "What about you?"

Booth placed his hand over his heart, "Ouch. Right here, both of my so called favorite people, I'm wounded." He said lowering himself onto the stairs they had been walking down and acting like he was a bad actor who had gotten shot through the heart, "No, no. Just…leave me. Go swimming, play Marco polo, try not to…" he fake coughed and wheezed for effect, "try not to think about me."

Again the pair exchanged glances and shrugged, "Okay." They said and continued their path down the stairs and were almost out of the main lobby when Booth caught up with them.

"Welcome back." Brennan threw him a playful look and he rolled his eyes, "I'm glad that you are here too, Booth." She said softly, and he gave her a fond smile.

"Me too dad." Parker said and the three made their way down to the pool happily chatting with each other. When they got there Booth's guess on Parker's actions proved to be true as his son stepped closer to Bones, his small arm finding its way around her waist and Booth couldn't help but smile at the possessiveness his son was emitting.

Avery was the first to greet them, having just gotten outside himself, "Hey Booth family." He grinned seeing his sister's slight flush, "We're trying to organize a water volleyball game are you in?"

The trio nodded the idea sounding fun, Walton walked up noticing that the small group had arrived, "Hey, Tempe you on my team because I'm making beats with Avery that we're going to cream him."

Temperance glanced over at Booth and to his surprise she placed her arm around Parker's shoulders and smiled, "Actually Parker and I were just saying how much fun it would be to wipe the floor with you and Christopher, so I think us three will be taking Avery's side."

Booth noticed his son stand up straighter and by the way his girlfriend looked at Parker he knew that she had picked up on his possessiveness as well. Turning to meet Avery's eyes he noticed that the other gentleman had a mixture of shock and amusement on his face telling Booth that it wasn't often that Avery had Temperance on his team.

"You're seriously going to break up the dream team?" Walton asked his jaw dropping open but there was amusement in his tone.

Brennan shook her head, "Haven't I told you before, this so called Dream Team is going strong, we have the highest solve rate." And by the time Booth realized that Bones had taken the team comment literally and was referring to their team she was already reaching over Parker to pull him close, "Walton this is my partner Agent Seeley Booth, you may call him Booth."

Walton blinked and looked the agent over before standing up straight and holding his head out, "Nice to meet you." He said.

Booth took the proffered hand in his and shook it, "Nice to meet you as well." He said pleasantly, after all he really didn't have anything to worry about, and Bones assurances helped to ease him…a little.

"And this young man is Parker Booth." Brennan said to drawing Walton's attention once more, dipping her head towards Parker she added, "Parker this is Chloe's husband and my brother-in-law Walton. Dylan and Melanie's father."

Parker nodded, "Hello sir." If his father could be nice than so could he.

"Hello Parker, I've heard a lot about you, Tempe never stops talking about you which I have to say is a nice change from all the bodies she usually talks about." Walton smiled, "And please call me Walton, after all we're all basically family here right."

Parker's body relaxed and he smiled, "That's right Walton, sir!"

Walton laughed, "How about we go off and get in the water while Avery here figures out just how he's going to win against me." He said and Booth wasn't too surprised that Parker went off with the other man where they met up with Dylan and Melanie before getting into the water together. Avery shrugged and turned intent on finding other recruits for his team now that Temperance and Booth were on his team.

"You didn't have to do that." Booth said quietly his arm finding its way around her shoulders and pulling her closer, "Bones I don't want you to not have fun because Parker and I don't want to share you."

Brennan tilted her head so she could see him better, "I know that Booth, but as important as it was for me to tell you that you had worries, it was important that my family knows that I'm going to choose you too, and it's important that Parker knows that I'm going to choose you and him. You're my family too, and you matter to me."

Booth grinned and kissed her softly not caring that there were other people around, "Thanks, baby, I love you."

Brennan frowned at him, "I let you get away with that earlier because I wanted to sleep." She poked him in the chest, "But stop calling me baby or I'm going to start calling you…" She frowned trying to think of something, "Lover clown."

Booth gave her an honest horrified expression, "You wouldn't!"

Brennan nodded, "I love you Booth, but call me baby one more time." She said seriously before walking away and he could hear her laughter as he followed behind her shaking his head.

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There you go, hopefully that will help now that the finale happened and my sister sent me angry text messages so I know that it wasn't an overly happy ending, but please don't spoil it for me! **

**Send me lots of reviews they make me happy I love you all, and I'll write something soon. I have another story floating around in my head, but I'm not sure I'll post it, because then I'll have two stories I have to keep up with, but then again I'm bored today so who knows. Also, I think I've lost Hammie, are you out there? I hope you are doing well and I'm sorry that you got flooded.**


	26. Sunday Swims and Sleeping Arrangements

**On Facebook the official Bones page posted that they were showing an encore of the finale, it was amusing to read everyone's reaction to that. LOL.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own them, but I own the house that I live in (well my parents do) and it currently smells like skunk because my stepdad caught one in the live trap outside. UGH!  
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The group played water volleyball for about an hour, Avery's side taking the win much to their amusement and Booth got the impression that his side lost most often than not. When the game ended they broke off into little groups, kids going off to the more shallow side to swim and play amongst themselves, Marcus and Abigail moving over to that end to keep an eye on them. Booth and Brennan made their way casually to the edge of the pool and away from the others, "I think Christopher is still crying that he lost." Booth said looking to her with a raised eyebrow, "I take it you are usually on his team and destroy the competition?"

Temperance shrugged, "Well, I do have an steep learning curve and while sports are not usually my thing, I am quite good at volleyball." She grinned cheekily at him.

Booth chuckled before reaching out and moving some damp hair out of her face, "I just hope that you didn't sacrifice your happiness because you thought Parker and I couldn't handle seeing you on Walton's team." He didn't think she did, because he'd watched her about as much as he watched the ball and she had been all laughter and smiles during the afternoon.

"I didn't Booth, I had fun, it was nice to see the winning team lose for once." She said with laughter in her voice, "Besides you were on my team and that meant more to me, I like when we're a team."

Booth grinned, "We're always going to be a team, you and I." he said pulling her close enough to capture her lips with his own.

"Hey! No making out in the swimming pool!" Christopher's voice sounded to off to the side and without breaking lip contact Temperance swept her arm throw the water drenching Christopher with the spray of water that shot in his direction. "Hey!" came his outraged answer.

Brennan pulled back laughing and met Booth's amused stare before turning her attention to Christopher, "Don't you have anything better to do?"

Christopher narrowed his eyes at her before shrugging, "I challenge you to Marco Polo." He said pointing his finger at her with a serious expression on his face, causing Booth knocked the other man's hand out of his partners face with an amused expression.

The kids hearing the game turned their head in anticipation, "Can we play too?" Wes asked dog paddling over to the adults, the other children falling in line and following. Christopher raised a challenging eyebrow to his sister by foster care and waited for her reply.

"I'm in." she replied knowing that all the children wanted to play and she wasn't going to stop that, "But you're it first."

Christopher shrugged and Booth watched Avery get out of the water, go inside, and when he came back out he was holding a length of cloth, "Really a blindfold?" Christopher called out much to the other adults' amusement.

"You cheat." Chloe replied, coming over with her husband, "So now you have to wear the blindfold buddy."

The group scattered while Christopher had the blindfold put on by Abigail who was deemed the most trustworthy and therefore would put the blindfold on correctly so her son couldn't see the other game players.

"Marco!" Christopher called out when he was ready and the group replied with resounding, "POLO", Booth was treading the water near Parker and Dylan when he noticed his girlfriend slip out of the pool as quietly as she could. Making her way around the pool and to the side of Christopher she replied to his next call with "Polo!" and he dove to her side hitting concrete with his hands.

It was then he noticed that Avery and Walton had slipped out of the pool silently followed by Abigail and Chloe. The men had moved to different parts around the pool edge, but the two women moved to lounge chairs, all of them still answering Christopher's cries of Marco.

Booth looked to Brennan with a raised eye and she grinned motioning for him to get out as well, Booth answered the latest call of Marco before motioning for his son and Dylan to follow him. Avery met them at the pool's edge holding out towels to the children anticipating that they would be the loudest to get out of the pool. Booth, with years of military training under his belt swam right by Christopher before shouting "Polo" and ducking out of the way of his searching hands; Booth reached the edge and hauled himself out of the pool with the silence befitting a sniper. When he turned back he noticed that he was the last out of the pool besides the lone blindfolded man.

"And this isn't considered cheating?" Booth whispered after the next _polo_.

Chloe shrugged from her spot under the sun, "Serves him right…POLO!"

"Seriously are you guys even in the pool anymore?" Christopher asked slapping his hands through the water around him in a searching manner.

Avery leaned closer to his brother, "Of course we are, that's how you play!" he hollered, and received a slap on the chest from Samantha as she fought not to laugh.

"Pooooollllooo." Brennan called out from her perch at the edge of the pool causing Christopher to turn and swim the length of the pool to get to her side.

"Here Tempe, Tempe, Tempe." He taunted, "Marco."

"Polo." She said quietly this time, acting like she was cornered by her brother by choice and whispering like she was hoping she wouldn't get caught.

Her ploy worked and they watched as Christopher smirked and jumped at the sound of her voice reaching nothing but water, "Oh come on!"

Booth chuckled drawing the attention of the lone member of the group in the pool, and Christopher turned towards the sound of the laugh, "Booth?" he asked making his way towards the side of the pool where he suspected Booth was swimming in. Booth made a 'whoops' face and moved to the rim of the pool stooping low and splashing his hands in the pool a little to make a little noise, "Marco." Christopher said with new found confidence that he was closing in on someone.

"Polo." The group replied and Booth felt a hand on his arm, turning to see Abigail beckoning him to follow her, and he watched and joined the rest of the group as they made their way into the poolroom leaving the prankster outside alone. Once inside many in the group chuckled at their antics continuing to draw off.

"How long do you think it will take until he realizes that he's all alone out there?" Avery asked, putting his used towel into the laundry bin before taking his girlfriend's towel and doing the same.

"So what are the plans for the rest of the day, or are we just breaking off in little groups?" Walton asked looking around the group.

"I think we should all take showers or baths to get the chlorine off our bodies, and we can talk about it in a little bit, it's getting close to evening." Abigail replied.

The D.C. trio made their way up to their rooms joking about Christopher staying in the pool all night though Booth and Brennan both assumed that he was out of the pool by now. When they got to their group of rooms they split up and took quick showers.

When Booth came out of his shower he dressed and opened his door and wasn't too surprised to see his partner's door open giving him the perfect view of his freshly showered girlfriend sitting at her desk typing away at the computer.

"And what are our favorite fiction crime fighters up to today?" he asked by way of greeting while he moved to her side of the room and took a seat in a nearby chair.

Brennan typed a few more lines before turning her attention to him, "They are doing things pertaining to the case they are working on." She smiled at him and he couldn't help but lean over and give her a peck on the lips, she gave her approval with a low noise in her throat, "Is Parker ready yet? I figured we could go back down together."

"I'm here." Parker said walking into the room having heard the tail end of the conversation where he was mentioned, "Are we staying the rest of the week?" he asked dropping down on Bone's bed watching the pair.

Booth and Brennan looked at each other before turning back to the youngest member in the room, "We were thinking we'd stay a few more days before going home and then we can all have a few days to unwind back home before we have to return to our normal routines."

Parker nodded playing with the top blanket on the bed, "Does that mean we won't spend any more time together?" he asked looking first to his beloved friend then to his father.

"What do you mean?" Booth asked, "We're going to see each other all the time, we have our weekends together and then another week before you start school…"

"Yeah." He said with an exaggerated sigh, "And I'm really glad because I love you dad, but what about Bones?"

"Me?" she asked confused.

"Yeah…like are we going to see you too?" he asked looking away from the blanket to meet Temperance's glaze, "Or is it going to be like before?"

"Parker, you'll see enough of Bones, we'll bug her as much as she will allow us to bug her while keeping in mind that she also has a job to do so we can't bug her all the time." Booth replied.

Parker grinned sitting up, "So, we'll see you?" he asked directing his question to the scientist.

Brennan nodded, "Of course, no doubt your father will show up at the lab with you to distract me until I allow him to take us to lunch, and we'll spend a little bit of time together on the weekends you come over."

"Bud, Bones and I are dating so it's not going to be like before where we just see her at work or the diner. She's my girlfriend so we'll be spending more time together than usual."

"So like when you were first dating then?" he asked looking between the two adults once more.

The partners looked at each other and shrugged, "Like before." Booth replied, "That's okay?"

Parker sighed, "I guess, only I still think you should be dating super fast so you'll get married and stuff then we could see each other all the time when it was your turn to have me."

Temperance smiled, "Parker, how about when you are with your father, any time you two want to spend time with me you call me and I'll come over."

Parker lit up, "Really, like you'd really do that?"

Brennan nodded, "Of course as long as I wasn't working on an importance case I would drop anything –not literally- to come spend time with my two favorite boys." This caused both Booths in the room to light up light a Christmas tree making her think she'd said the right thing.

Booth clapped his hands together, "Right, well let's go downstairs and see if Christopher has managed to get himself out of the pool, and we'll see if Elsie has some snack food for her favorite FBI agent."

Brennan rolled her eyes but worked quickly to shut down her computer that she neglected since he walked into her room, "Elsie always has snacks for the family she's the mothering type but that doesn't mean she has specifically put ou-"

"Shhh. Just let me live the dream." He replied with a grin earning an eye roll from the other two occupants of the room, "Come on, chop, chop!"

The Booth boys waited until Brennan secured her laptop and closed the door behind them before they all made their way down towards the dining room since it was close to dinner time anyway and weren't too surprised to see Chloe, Walton and the kids already down there. They chatted casually while waiting for the others to show up, Marcus and Abigail showing next, Christopher, Avery and Samantha coming afterwards.

When everyone had arrived Elsie and Mitch began bringing in the food and Booth's mouth watered at the amazing smells that were wafting through the room. Elsie moved around the table filling each member's plate with the most delicious looking pork chops he'd ever seen, Samantha and Temperance the only ones not getting a helping of the golden brown meat.

"Tempe." Marcus said bringing the anthropologist's attention to the head of the table, "Can you spare some time after dinner?"

Brennan tilted her head and shrugged, "Of course, why?"

"Write off?" He replied and Booth watched as the other members of the family broke out into small grins.

"What's that?" Booth asked to no one in particular but it was his Bones who turned and answered him, "Christopher and I are given our laptops and we have fifteen minutes to come up with a story that the plot and characters are given to us." At his confused look she bit her lip, "Um. Okay, like Marcus will tell us that our characters are Booth and Parker." At this she threw a wink at Parker, "And then Avery will say that they are at the zoo trying to steal a zebra and then Christopher and I have fifteen minutes to come up with a story about that."

Booth grinned, "Oh, that sounds fun, and how do you know who wins?"

"We read off the stories like we're in high school giving a report and then the class will decide." Christopher replied before taking a bit of his pork chop, "its fun."

Temperance rolled her eyes at her quasi brother lack of manners at the table but agreed, "It started when we were teenagers, and has grown more competitive now that we're both accomplished authors."

"Sounds fun." Booth stated once more taking a big bite of his dinner and closed his eyes in appreciation of the meal.

They finished the meal and the two writers excused themselves to get their laptops, Booth trailing after his girlfriend while everyone else made their way to the library.

Stepping into her room he dropped down onto her bed watching her grab her laptop and charger, she looked back at him and rolled her eyes, "Comfortable?"

"Very." He replied nonplussed, "You know, we need to decide which room we're sleeping in tonight so Marcus doesn't have to hunt all over the house for us."

Temperance raised her eyebrows, "Who says we're staying in the same room?" she said with an amused tone, "It doesn't matter to me, a room is a room."

"Do-do you want to share a room?" he asked now unsure, after all just because he slept better with her beside him didn't mean she was ready for that sort of…clinginess.

Brennan shrugged, "I…" she paused and he could almost see the conversation she was having with herself as the emotions played across her face like an open book, with a sigh she nodded, "I sleep better with you in the room, I don't feel like I have to have my guard up."

This caused Booth to frown wondering why she would think she needed her guard up around these people unless it had to do with Christopher and his pranking, "Why?"

A confused crease took residence on her brow, "Why what?"

"Why do you feel the need to have your guard up when you sleep?" he asked shifting as she sat down next to him setting her laptop away from them.

"I just…sometimes my days events don't let me fall to sleep as I would like, and sometimes when I wake up and it's still dark out it takes me a few minutes to realize that I'm not locked in my car with Dr. Hodgins performing a shady backroom surgery that I'm not qualified to do while we wait to see if we'll make it out to see another day." As she spoke her voice grew quiet and Booth found himself leaning towards her just to hear her words, "Or if I'm going to wake up and find out that you've been kidnapped again."

"Oh Bones." He said pulling her against his body, "I didn't know you had trouble sleeping."

Brennan shrugged in his arms, "Not all the time, but sometimes…"

Booth nodded against her hair, "I know, I get like that too." He said giving her a squeeze with his arms as if to reassure her, as well as himself, that they were both okay, "How about if you feel like that in the future you give me a call, I don't care if you wake me up, you call me whenever you want and I'll tell you I'm okay." He said, although he was hoping that there wouldn't be too many nights apart.

Temperance shook her head, "I don't want to wake you up in the middle of the night Booth, and it's irrational when I know that you can take care of yourself."

Booth pulled away so he could see her face, "Irrational? Do you know how many times a week I've driven by your place to make see if your lights were on because I wanted to make sure that you were okay? I don't know if I'm going to wake up and you'll be gone on some dig, or if you're going to be accused of some voodoo murder, or if some colleague of mine is going to try to kill you off by feeding you to some starved abused dogs. I don't know if you've done something to piss off some crime lord and you end up getting another hit put out on you."

Brennan chuckled softly, "That…that is irrational." She said but there was an emotion in her voice to let him know that she wasn't trying being insensitive, "If you drive by my apartment you should just come up, you've always been welcome anytime Booth, you know that."

He shrugged, "I don't want to disturb you."

"How about you just call if you want to make sure I'm okay, the thought of calling each other in the middle of the night doesn't sound so intrusive when you feel the same way." She said with a small smile, "And if you do happen to drive by my place in the middle of the night, my bed is big enough for the both of us…" she trailed off leaving her sentence open ended.

Booth grinned and leaned down to kiss her, "Sounds good." He grinned, "My beds always open to you too, but I'll bet your bed is more comfortable than mine, you want me over and I'll be there in a heartbeat." His smile grew when she opened her mouth, "It's an expression." He cut off her inevitable rebuttal how that wouldn't be possible and also very dangerous to try traveling at those speeds.

Brennan nodded, "I see, in that case, maybe you could stay over some nights." She said it casually but he could hear the questioning in her tone.

Booth's smile grew, "I'd stay every night if I didn't know that you need space." He replied, "And that's okay because this is a big step for us and it's new."

Temperance studied him for a minute before returning his smile, "You know what Booth? You're a good man." She leaned up to capture his lips with her own.

"Gah-ize!" Parker called from the doorway, "Guys come on." He said when they broke apart guiltily and turned towards the doorway, "We're waiting for you!"

Brennan pulled away from Booth grabbing her laptop and standing, "Sorry, we're sorry, we were just talking."

"Didn't look like talking." Parker retorted with a grin of childlike innocence.

"You're right, Bub, that was kissing, before that though we were talking." Booth said standing also, "let's go watch Bones beat Christopher in a write off."

Parker cheered, "Duh, is there any question, Bones is the best!"

"Thanks Parker, but Christopher is pretty good too." Brennan said with a flush uncomfortable with the praise even if it was from the youngest member of her fan club.

"Nope it's going to be awesome." He responded practically skipping down the steps ahead of the partners.

"He has a lot of energy." Bones said from next to Booth as they took he steps together, his arm around her shoulders, "Tomorrow, what do you think if we drove back to Portland, we could visit the Children's museum it's interactive and supposed to be very entertaining as well as educational, we could make a day of it, and maybe stay at a hotel and really just be the three of us."

Booth grinned and paused their momentum down the steps, "Really, just the three of us?" he asked and Brennan saw the similarities he shared with his son at her smile and nod his grin grew, "Of course, I think that sounds amazing, you sure you don't want to bring the other kids along?"

Brennan shook her head, "No, I told you when we first came that we didn't always spend time together while we were vacationing together; each family breaks off to do their own thing since we don't all share interests. Besides while they might enjoying going, the kids have all been there before…and it would be nice to spend more time with just you and Parker."

Booth tightened his hold on her shoulders in an affectionate squeeze, "I think it sounds like a great plan Bones."

They shared a smile before continuing down the stairs, and shared a quick kiss before entering the library to watch the two quasi siblings compete in a family friendly writing contest.

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Um, so sorry I haven't updated, I've had some stuff going on, but I'm back and non-neglectful again. However I'd like to make a note that I (most) definitely won't be updating on the weekends because they've extended our hours at work and then I have an hour drive…so I'm beat by the time I get home.**

**As always, reviews make me happy! And I'll see you soon, like in a day or two not two weeks. SORRY!**


	27. Zebras and Reservations

**Oh gosh, I thought I was going to have to tell you I was disappearing again, but turns out that only my mornings have been kidnapped, and since I like to write at night…woohoo!**

**I don't own them; I do however own a now empty can of Red Bull….  
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Booth found himself pulled away from his partner and took a seat on the couch between Parker and Abigail, while Bones took a seat in a big armchair. She pulled her legs up so she could sit crossed-legged in the chair, known as the tailor style or Indian style to some cultures, setting her laptop on her lap she flipped the lid open and booted her system up.

Christopher opted to sit in his armchair with a TV dinner type table placed between his legs, he two started up his laptop. The rest of the group talked quietly amongst themselves trying to pick ideas for the two authors to write about. Once the computers were opened to each novelist's chosen word processer program they looked to the group for direction.

Marcus cleared his throat, "We've chosen that the characters names shall be…Booth and Parker." He started causing chuckling throughout the crowd, "And the scene will be that they went to the zoo and Booth decided he wanted to steal a zebra." This caused Brennan to roll her eyes knowing that they chose it since she used that exact scene and character to explain the 'write off' to Booth earlier at dinner. "You have fifteen minutes, and no shorter than one hundred words. Go."

Both authors started typing at their computers, both with amused smiles as their fingers flew across their keyboards, the rest of the group sat quietly, Booth noticing that they seemed trained on the pair the children's breaths shallow almost like they were afraid to breathe as if it might startle the writers. The atmosphere though serious looking and directed wasn't awkward or thick; and though the only sounds were breathing and typing of keys there was a wave of amusement that seemed to seep in through the air and Booth knew that this was an activity that was enjoyed by all.

"Time!" Avery said exactly fifteen minutes after Marcus gave the green light, the authors finished up the last few words before both took their hands away from the computers, telling Booth that maybe in the past there had been some after 'time' typing and that they were not allowed to keep their hands near the computers so that there wasn't any cheating.

"Christopher since you were left in the pool this morning you may go first." Marcus said.

Christopher grumbled about being left in the pool but nodded, "Alright." He said, clearing his throat, "_Once upon a time there were two gentleman named Parker Warrington and Booth Kingsley, after having a few too many drinks at the local pub decided to go to the zoo that was located conveniently down the street from the establishment they had just vacated. While at the zoo they checked out many animals, poor Parker getting peed on by a hippo that was standing at the fence of the exhibit."_ This earned a few chuckles around the room and a 'yuck!' from Parker, "_Moving on to the zebra exhibit Booth looked at the animals with a rare look of enchantment, "Let's take one of those zebras" he told his companion Parker. Parker tried to make the other gentleman see reason, but since they were both intoxicated he didn't try real hard. Soon the two found themselves hiding in some bushes until the zoo closed for the night. With the zoo closed, and the trainers and other staff members gone for the night the pair made their way back to the zebra exhibit where Parker picked the lock of the animal's home and they entered. Try as they might they couldn't get the zebra to cooperate sitting down on the ground after the affects of the alcohol started to wear off the pair drifted off. When they woke up the zoo security team was standing over them, and they were arrested. The end._"

"You had us arrested?" Parker scoffed, "That's just not cool." He added jokingly.

"Well done, 200 plus word count." Marcus said before turning to look at the woman he'd grown to call his daughter, "Temperance."

Brennan nodded, "Okay." She said and cleared her throat as well, "_Booth Knightly was a dashing young rakehell who had a son named Parker…_"

"Wait, wait, wait." Booth held up his hand, "What is a rakehell?"

"You're not supposed to interrupt." Temperance frowned but explained any way with a slight smile, "A rakehell, or rake as it's more commonly known as, is a character that is usually a prodigal who has wasted his fortune on drinking, women, and…gambling." At this she winked and Booth knew she was just playing around, "He tends to seduce a lot of women."

"What does that mean?" Parker asked.

"Uh…it means he makes a lot of friends." Booth replied before anyone else in the group could tell his son that his partner just called his father a man-whore. Parker nodded having no reason to not believe his father and motioned that his favorite doctor should continue his story much to her amusement.

"_Booth Knightly was a dashing young rakehell who had a son named Parker." _She started again, "_the pair loved to do everything together, and one afternoon the young boy, Parker, decided that they should go to the zoo, mainly because he wanted to visit the petting zoo." _Parker's grin widened because that was his favorite part about going to the zoo and he was glad that the anthropologist knew that. "_They visited many parts of the zoo, as many as they could get in making a day of it. Booth, who was a wonderful father, doted on his son taking him to the petting zoo portion of the zoo where they both fed the animals until Booth ran out of quarters to feed the machine that deposited the special food for the creatures. To make his son happy Booth took him to see the zebras." _She snickered before continuing and Booth wondered what was up, "_while on the way they passed a clown who was giving away balloons._" This caused Booth to groan and sent Brennan into another round of snickering before she moved on to the rest of her story, "_Booth was so overcome with fear of the man in the multicolored wig that he used his slingshot to shoot all the balloons down, impressively using just one stone. After they shared at laugh at the misfortune of the clown they finally made it to the zebra enclosement. Booth was so moved by the beautiful African equids that he decided he was going to rescue the young plains zebra from the zoo and release it into the wild. The father and son left the park shortly before it closed for the night and moved over to a all-night diner to wait until the zoo closed, watching as employees and trainers left for the night. When Booth was sure that the zoo was empty, save for the security, he helped his son scale the posts outside the zoo and they made their way back to the exhibit where Parker used some left over treats he got from the feeding zoo to coax the zebra out of the enclosure. Booth and Parker worked like a well oiled machine leading the zebra towards the exit while also dodging the mediocre security. Once to the main entrance of the zoo Booth picked the lock and the pair quickly made their getaway where they loaded the zebra into the back of the SUV and drove it to a boat that was waiting to take the zebra home to Africa. The end._"

"A few short of 400 hundred." Marcus replied, "Nice job. Group?"

At this point they were all handed a piece of paper and pen where they were supposed to write the name of the author they liked best. Once written the pieces of paper were passed to the fatherly member of the group who tallied the names and looked up, "First off I'd like to say that each story was well written on such a short time frame. Now the winner with a slight lead over the other is…" the kids all tapped their hands on their legs as if drums, "Temperance! Well done."

Temperance grinned and blushed but said nothing feeling words were not needed for winning a silly game they'd been playing since teenagers. They played another round one where the characters were Lilo and Booger and the scene was Aliens taking over the world, Christopher won this round because Brennan went off into a tangent on how the aliens weren't actually real because there was no such thing as aliens. Declaring the game a stalemate for the night the group said their goodnights, Brennan telling the adults of the trios plans and they broke up for the night, Booth hanging back for a minute.

"Marcus." He called gently to the other man who stopped his progress out of the room and walked over to the FBI agent, "I just wanted to let you know that we'll be in Temperance's room tonight."

Marcus eyed him for a minute before a grin broke out on his face and he chuckled, "Well, if there is a fire at least I know which room to send the firefighters in." he joked, "Have a goodnight." And with a pat on Booth's back the other man stepped out of the room.

Brennan raised her eyebrows in amusement but said nothing, the trio making their way upstairs where Bones joined Parker on the bed while Booth read them a story once again using wild voices for the speaking parts. When the story was over, the boy's eyes were closed and he was deep in the world of dreams, never noticing the partners leave the room for the night.

The partners separated going into their own rooms to shower and dress for the night, Brennan pulling open her door before climbing into bed. Booth entered the room moments later with a grin and closed the door behind him, "Still awake?" he asked walking towards the bed.

"Waiting for you." Was the reply from the form lying in the bed.

Booth beamed as he lowered himself onto the bed and pulling some of the covers over him before Brennan rearranged them, much to his amusement, and wrapped her arms around him. "Comfortable?" he asked moving to switch off the light."

She gave a noise of contentment, "This way we can both share the blankets and you can't accuse me of pigging the blankets."

Booth's body shook with laughter much to his girlfriends annoyance, "Hogging the blankets." He grinned wrapping his arm around her, "Sweet dreams Bones."

Brennan nodded, "I do sleep better with you around Booth." She mumbled as sleep started to take her.

"I sleep better with you as well." He replied quietly leaning over slightly to give her a kiss on the forehead, "Goodnight Bones."

"G'night Booth." Came the reply and the partners both drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

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Booth awoke sometime later that night to his partner pulling out of his embrace, with a moan of dissatisfaction he tightened his hold on her and pulled her back towards him smiling when he heard a mumbled 'alpha male' in return, "Where are you going?"

"I need to look something up." She replied slapping her hand against his forearm, "Let me up."

Booth groaned in frustration and amusement, "Why do you need to look something up at…3am? People are sleeping Bones."

"I was thinking that instead of the children's museum we could go down to New Hampshire there are a few train tours and we could make a day of it there." She said and bit her lip, "Unless you don't want to do that, we don't have to do that…nevermind, go to sleep." She said adjusting herself so she was laying half on his again.

Booth would have found her turnabout amusing if it wasn't for the fact that his best friend wasn't feeling confident, "No, Bones, let's talk about it." He said slowing sitting up with her in his arms so she was forced to follow, "Let's boot the system and we'll look it up, sounds like it could be fun." He said running his hand over his face in an attempt to get the sleep out of his system, anything sounded good as long as his son and girlfriend were involved.

"Are you sure?" She asked, and at his nod she pulled away from him and hurried to the table by the window to get her laptop bringing it over to the bed, she started it up and when it loaded she typed in a password and her screen came to life. Booth was shocked to see it was a picture of the two of them laughing together while getting drinks with the rest of the squints. She turned the computer slightly away from her and he saw the beginnings of a blush and decided to let this new gem slide for now, "Okay, so there are five tours…" she clicked on a tourist link that gave descriptions for the rides.

The partners bent over the screen looking over the internet sites talking softly with one another about which one sounded better, in the end they decided to go on Clark's Trading Post and the White Mt Central R.R., it sounded like the tour would be amazing, and when it was over there was plenty to do at the attraction. With that sorted out Brennan argued that it would be impractical to not look for a hotel while they had the internet already up. Deciding on the Comfort Inn they made their arrangements using Avery's credit card much to Booth's amusement, with that done Temperance turned the computer off and set it on the bottom shelf of the bedside table, "There, and now we don't have to worry about where we are staying tomorrow, we can just have fun." She said, fixing the covers around them and once she seemed satisfied he pulled them back into laying position her cradled in his arms.

"I'm glad that we got everything settled." He agreed, after all, they could spend more time having fun as the family he always dreamed they would be, "Good idea Bones, I'm glad you're thinking about what would be more entertaining for all of us, however now I'd like to go to sleep." He said with a smile and kissed her nose, much to his amusement when she wrinkled it so cute.

"I am going to sleep." She said with a yawn, "Good night Booth."

"Goodnight Handsy." He grinned into the dark.

"I love you." She said softly causing his grin to soften into a soft smile and return the sentiment, "I love you too."

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Booth looked towards the open bathroom door and rolled his eyes with an amused smile, he didn't know who was more excited to go on this outing. Bones had woke him up a mere three hours after she woke him up the first time, unusually giddy wanting to wake Parker and tell him about the plans for the next few days. Booth knowing that she wasn't likely to go to bed again anytime soon humored his favorite anthropologist by getting out of bed and dragging himself down the hall behind the bouncing doctor as they made their way to the youngest Booth's room.

Booth gently woke his son who, much to Booth's amusement, was sorely unimpressed at being woken up before the sun was high in the sky…that is until he saw the bones doctor and he perked up instantly. They shared the news of the day's events and Parker bounded out of his bed faster than Booth thought he might had he been told there were snakes under the covers.

So now his son was in the shower after being prompted to by his father's girlfriend, they could only just hear his singing from Bones' room. Bones was in her bathroom brushing her teeth after one hell of a quick shower practically bouncing on the balls of her heels. Booth, who took a quick shower in his own bathroom while his partner used hers, was currently resting on her bed watching her lazily.

"Have you packed an overnight bag?" she called out to him after rinsing the toothpaste from her mouth, "Oh and maybe we should run down to the kitchen and grab a few snacks, it's early yet do we want to stop for breakfast right away?"

Booth grinned at the domestic scene and stood up rolling his shoulder, with a yawn he replied, "We could grab a few snacks and eat later that way we won't have to eat another breakfast when we Booth boys get hungry again."

Temperance walked out of the bathroom shutting the light off and looked to him with a raised eyebrow, "Perhaps next time you speak you could wait until you finish the inhalation of air and stretching of the eardrums resulting in an exhalation of breath." At Booth's blank stare she grinned, "A yawn."

"And you couldn't have just said that?" he grinned moving over to her and taking her into his arms.

"I could have, but now you know that a yawn is." She replied picking imaginary lint off his shirt before looking up to him with a smile, "Did you pack an overnight bag?"

Booth rolled her eyes at her repeated question, "I will go do that right now, and go grab some clothes for Parker as well; you go get the snacks so we can go before you explode from excitement."

"It would be physically impossible to explode from excitement." Brennan replied pulling away and moving towards the door, "I will go get the snacks, I expect you to be ready upon my return."

"Yes ma'am." He grinned which she gave him an answering smile before walking out of the room. Booth sauntered out of the room to the room across the hall and grabbed the pack he used to go camping grabbing a few shirts and another set of jeans before heading down the hall to Parker's room and repeating the process. His son was out of the shower and dressed in the bathroom brushing his teeth, "Don't forget to pack that Parker." Booth said pointing to the bag on the bed.

Parker spit the paste out of his mouth and nodded, "I won't." he rinsed the remaining toothpaste out and tapped his brush against the sink trying to get a few drops out before carrying the toothbrush over to his father who put it in the front pocket of the bag that held his own toothbrush and toothpaste. "This is exciting, huh dad! It's going to be so fun with Bones because she is the best. I'm so glad that you're together again; can we have movie night when we get home? And we can go to the dinner…and…and…everything, she can come to my school games and stuff, and we can go out like a family and have ice cream together…"

"We could always have ice cream together." Booth interjected amused.

Parker gave a long suffering sigh, "Yeah, but now it's going to be different because you're dating."

"How is that different?" Booth asked cocking his head to the side.

Parker shrugged, "It just is." He said, and as if that was the final word he turned on his heel and headed towards the door before pausing, "Where is Bones?"

Booth grabbed the bag slinging the strap over his shoulder and followed his son out the door, "She's downstairs getting snacks so you don't starve until we stop to eat breakfast." He chuckled ruffling his son's hair as they made their way back to Bones room, minutes after they entered the room she came in with a fabric bag full of goodies, "All set Bones?"

Brennan looked around the room, no doubt looking for things she might have missed, "I'm ready."

"Did you grab your toothbrush?" he asked already knowing the answer.

Brennan's eyes widened before she walked briskly to the bathroom coming back out moments later with the object in question after placing it in her bag she grabbed the bag and turned back to her boys, "_Now_ I am ready." She smiled.

Booth nodded at her before turning to his son, "And you've used the restroom?" at his son's nod he turned his attention back to his girlfriend, "And _you've_ used the restroom?" at her eye roll he cocked an eyebrow in jest and she nodded. "Okay troops let's go."

Parker walked over to Brennan and took her hand, "This is going to be fun." He grinned up at her before pulling her towards the door.

Booth's heart swelled at the answering smile Brennan had, "I hope so." She replied and Booth followed his two favorite people as they started their mini vacation from their vacation.

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Thank you for your reviews, as always they make me smile.**


	28. Rest Stop Intermission

**Ugh, so I kept looking at this chapter and could not find the words to write. I'm so sorry.**

Do you know…that I don't own them? Because I don't. I don't know if I'm made that clear enough.  
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The trio had barely been on the road for ten minutes before Booth started complaining that he was starving, prompting the youngest member of the group to join in, Brennan dug through her bag of goodies handing Parker a small bag of sliced strawberries and Booth a healthy granola bar, taking one of the bars for herself as well.

"Why do I get the bird food?" Booth whined but used one hand and his mouth to tear into the packaging failing miserably and causing his partner to roll her eyes and take the treat back opening it the best she could now that he'd destroyed the wrapping and handing him back his bar.

"Because Parker will enjoy and healthy sweet treat while you are old enough to eat healthy without having to be prompted with a sweet bribery." She replied quietly not wanting the backseat passenger to know his food wasn't just a treat it was also healthy, while also poking fun at her boyfriend.

Booth took a bite of the granola bar, that wasn't that bar, and chewed thoughtfully, "So what you're saying is that I'm old? Thanks, Bones." He said sarcastically but there wasn't any heat behind his words.

Brennan nibbled on her breakfast bar with a smirk, "If you're old then I would have to trade you in for a newer model." Booth held his breath his mind flashing back to when Bones spent time with Jared, "Parker? You're father is under the impression that he's old." He liked how she conveniently left out that she is the one who implied it, "Since that is his feelings perhaps you and I shall spend the day together and leave him to feeding the birds in the park."

Parker crackled with glee, "He is old Bones!"

This caused two comical reactions: Booth sputtered with half serious outrage, "My own girl and son!", and Brennan sobered instantly, "Whoa, if he's old then what am I?"

Parker's childlike glee crackled for another minute before he leaned forward and tried to lay a reassuring hand on Brennan's arm, much like his father would have done, however his seatbelt restricted his growing arms and he didn't quite make it. He settled for tapping the center console between the two partners, "You aren't old, Bones, you're pretty and nice and not old." He said reassuringly and like his father gave her a look that said he wasn't letting it go until she understood that what he said was the truth.

Booth watched in amused fascination as his partner blushed a pretty pink and half turned to smile at his little boy, "Thank you Parker." She said softly and Booth could hear the catch in her voice, he reached over the storage compartment between them and took her hand giving it a quick squeeze and was pleasantly surprised when she gave him a return compression of her own.

Parker not noticing his father and the totally awesome scientist's personal moment in the front nodded and went back to his Nintendo DS gaming system. Brennan reached back into her bag and pulled out another bag of strawberries and handed them over to her partner, "In case the granola didn't work." She winked at him.

Booth let go of her hand to take the offered berries and chanced a grin at her, "Thanks Bones." He replied setting the bag on his lap and popping one of the sweet and tart berries into his mouth, "So what's on our agenda today?"

"A lot of driving, and then maybe we could stop and shop along the way, pick up a few things for the team at home. Parker might also like to get something for his mother. Then we can check into our hotel for the night and amuse ourselves around the area before spending the day at the attraction tomorrow." She said reaching over and snagging a berry from the bag resting very close to some of Booth's own prized berries.

Booth waited until the muscles in his thighs unclenched and cleared his throat, "That-that sounds good, and maybe we can find a nice Thai place for dinner."

Brennan glanced at him with a grin, "That would be lovely, Booth." She replied unaware of her partner's coiling nerves as she snagged another berry, "I've been craving some Thai."

"Since we went camping." Booth retorted, "I remember, I'm just sorry it's taken us so long to get you what you want. I should have taken you out when we got back to the main land."

Brennan looked over at him and noticed the hard lines on his face and knew that her partner was kicking himself for not doing everything in his power to make his new mate happy. She placed a hand on his arm gently, "Booth. It's okay, I did not expect to have it at all on this trip, it will be welcome to have a Thai date, but it's not something that couldn't have held off until we were back in D.C."

Booth nodded, "Thanks Bones, I know, I just…" he looked in the rearview mirror and dropped his voice, "I just want to make sure you don't have any reasons to find me lacking…to find this relationship lacking."

"Why would I do that? It's you and I as always only we've added an extra element to our already solid relationship." She replied, "And we've already discussed that I'm lacking in the proper research and experimenting in having a romantic relationship. With the exception of Sully…"

"Bones." Booth hissed, "Can we not bring our _exes_ into our family vacation?" He looked into the mirror once more checking to see where his son's attention was, satisfied that his son wasn't listening in he continued, "You aren't just experimenting here are you?"

Brennan looked over at him with an unreadable expression and he found that he couldn't breathe, trying to keep his focus on the road ahead of them and desperately wanting to hear her reply he waited with baited breath. "In many ways I am." She said with an almost apprehensive tone, "its how I learn, Booth, but this isn't just experimentation for me, I _want_ this to work out. But it's new to me and the only way I'm going to learn is to experiment with what I have learned day by day on relationships. When I do something that has been done to me in the past, it's an experiment to see if it works in our relationship. It's the only way I know how." As she told her views her tone turned pleading, something that Booth had only witnessed a few times and he forced himself to work his mind around her words. She was correct, in the grand scheme of things life could be viewed as one big experiment.

"I get it Bones." He said, "I just wanted to make sure…I wanted to make sure that you were going to…that you weren't just going to give up when the going gets tough." He looked at his son grinning at the game in his hands before checking the road and turning to look at her for as long as he dared before turning back to the road. "I love you Bones, I love you and I want…I _know_ that we are going to make it, but it's going to be tough roads ahead of us. I'm all heart, you're all brain. I'm beer and burgers; you're weird beer and bird food. We're going to clash, but…" he took a head off the steering wheel and after gently shaking her hand off his arm he took a hold of it, giving her a squeeze, "_but_ we're going to be stronger in the end. Do you believe that?"

Brennan worried on her lower lip, "I believe that you want us to work out Booth…"

He could hear the but in her voice and before she could voice it he stopped her, cutting in, "Do you trust me?"

From the corner of his eye he saw the sharp turn of her head and briefly worried that she would pull something in her neck, "Of course I trust you Booth, you're my partner."

"I know, I know, but do you trust me in more than just our work?" he asked squeezing her hand once more, "Will you trust me to have the faith that we're going to work, this is going to work. Will you believe in me if you can't yet believe in us?"

"I know it's irrational but I need to know, I need to hear you say that you're not going to take off and come back with another Hannah. I don't care if you take off Booth as long as you come back, but please don't come back with another Hannah." She said quietly and he knew that even though their conversation took on muted tones when the conversation turned more serious than Thai food that she was dropping her voice lower, wanting to say what she needed to say, but afraid of saying it. This wasn't the Bones he knew, this wasn't what he wanted from his partner.

Booth scanned the roads ahead of him and lucked out when an Interstate rest area came into view he signaled before moving into the right lane and turning to enter the parking area. Since no one had yelled their need for the restroom he parked further away from the building and rolled the windows in the front down a little on the side that was facing the picnic area. Unbuckling his seatbelt he turned in his chair forcing his eyes to his son and not to his partner, "We're going to stop here for a few minutes, Bub. Do you have to use the rest room now or can you wait a bit?"

Parker looked up from his game and looked around the area outside the car before turning to his father with a shrug, "I'm okay, I can hold it…"

Booth nodded, "Alright, Bones and I are going to go over to that bench for a few minutes okay." He said pointing to the bench near the vehicle between the picnic area and that parking lot, "We'll be right there talking, I'll leave the car running. I don't want you to get out of the car; if you need us you holler out, if someone moves towards the car you roll the windows up, okay?"

Parker nodded and looked between the two adults, "Are you guys going to break up, because we don't have to go to the park, we can go back to Bones family. Honest, its fun there."

Booth shook his head wanting to dispel both the other car occupants fears, and also took notice that his partner didn't say anything, eyes focused on his son he reached out blindly and took his partner's hand, "No, we are _not_ breaking up." He said wanting both to know his feelings on the subject, "Bones and I are just going to have a quick talk and then we're all going to go have some fun with each other, just the three of us."

Parker's expression shifted into relief before a mixture of amusement and disgust took over, "You're going to go make out aren't you?" The whole package would have made Booth laugh if he wasn't worried about the conversation he was about to have.

"There might be some kissing." He replied, "Hopefully a lot of kissing. Are you okay with that?"

"As long as you don't get all slobbery." Parker shrugged going back to his game in a show of dismissing the adults.

Booth turned to his partner for the first time and nodded to her before turning and getting out of the car. When his partner was out of the car he locked the doors and moved to the back open window, "Remember." He said drawing the attention of his son once more, "Anyone comes near this car you roll up the window." Parker nodded and Booth took his apprehensive partner's hand, "Come on Bones." He said gently.

Walking over to the empty bench they sat down and Booth waved to his son and watched him register that his father and favorite scientist were close enough by to call out to if needed before going back to his game, turning to his partner he sighed, "Bones, I'm not going to leave you, and I'm definitely not going to be bringing home anyone else but you." He took her hand, "I'm sorry that I came home with Hannah, I was hurting and she…wanted me." He said with a shrug, "…and I thought that if you didn't want me than I'd settle for her, it was stupid and it ended up almost destroying us. I'm done with other women, Bones. I love you, I want you, I'm going to wait and fight for you."

Brennan looked away from him and he gave her the mental distance she was silently requesting, he kept a trained eye on the car watching his son alternate from his game to the adults with a nervous expression that Booth could see from where he was sitting, he tried to give his son a smile to let him know everything was okay, but he himself did not know.

"Rationally, Booth, I know that you are going to be honorable and stay in a relationship with me, but what if you don't like something about me? What if you want out but don't want to hurt me so you end up miserable. I'd rather have you leave me than suffer yourself." She said with a quivering sigh.

"Bones, we've been partner's for years in all this time I haven't left you for something I dislike about you yet." He said, "In fact there aren't too many things I dislike about you. But even if there were a hundred things I disliked or hated about you it wouldn't matter because I love you, and my love for you is strong enough to deal with the fact that you strangely don't like pie."

The corners of Brennan's mouth curved upwards, "It's the cooked fruit I dislike, I would be okay with a cream pie." She turned to him and he felt a slight relief knowing that it meant he hadn't completely lost her to her fear. "I trust you Booth, with my life, and with my metaphoric heart." She said after another minute, "I'm sorry."

Booth shook his head, "There's nothing to be sorry for, and this is new for you as much as it's new for me. I've never loved someone as much as I love you." He glanced towards the car before looking back at his girlfriend, "Now what do you say we neck a little so Parker doesn't think we're breaking up."

Temperance lifted a perfectly sculpted eyebrow, "I'm surprised someone as prudish as you would want to make out in front of your son."

Booth coughed, "First off, I'm not a prude, secondly, I'm kidding about the necking, but I would like a kiss from my girlfriend if she wouldn't mind."

Brennan grinned and scooted a little closer, "She wouldn't mind." She said before closing the gap between them, something that continued to surprise Booth, leaving him breathless she pulled away and stood up, "Come, let's go have fun."

"I was having fun." Booth grumbled goodheartedly standing up and taking her hand, lacing their fingers together, "You're it for me Bones." He said, bringing their joined hands to his lips and kissing the back of her hand, "I love you, just remember that."

She nodded, eyes full of emotion, "I love you too, Booth, I'd also like it if you remembered that." She said softly before pulling on his hand and leading him back to the car where Parker paused his game and looked leery at the approaching adults. The scientist smiled at him, "How about we take care of bathroom needs here before going to breakfast at a nearby restaurant?"

Parker's face relaxed a little and he glanced at his father before turning his attention back to the anthropologist, "Because dad is hungry enough to eat a horse?" he asked with a slight lift of his eyebrow.

Brennan nodded, "When is your father not hungry, we'd better hurry up here before he starts to think we would look good as a main course."

"Hey!" Booth said playfully, glad to be the butt of the joking if it meant his two favorite people were happy, he reached in through Parker's open window and hit the unlocking button before opening his son's door, "Come on let's go use the rest room, Bub, then maybe we can educate Bones on how delicious sausage and eggs are." He unlocked his door as well and hurried to roll the windows up before relocking the automobile.

"I'm a vegetarian Booth." Brennan replied walking on the other side of Parker to further protect the youngest member of their pack from strangers and vehicles.

Booth shook his head, "You don't know what you're missing Bones." He grinned at her to let her know he was just playing, but wanting to ease any tension that may be still lurking around.

Temperance rolled her eyes, "I wasn't always a vegetarian, I'm well aware of what I'm missing, and I have to say that while there are times I miss the taste of meat, I'm healthy and happier without it."

"But bacon!" Parker joined in, "How can you not miss the bacon?"

Brennan's grin widened, "I just think of a little pig named Jasper." She replied causing Booth to grin and Parker to look between the two adults with an expression that said he clearly thought they lost their mind.

Splitting up they went into their own gender specific restrooms, and when Brennan came out of the overly populated women's room she found Booth and Parker leaning casually against the wall in the main room. Both with the left ankle crossed over the right arms crossed across their chest watching for her looking, all for the world, like they were waiting for the most important person in the world to come out of the women's rest room. When they spotted her they both stood up together and crossed over to her before the trio made their way out of the building and back to their car.

Booth hit the unlock button and they all piled into the rental car putting on seatbelts, when he was sure his loved ones were strapped in properly he pulled out of the parking lot back onto the interstate and glanced at his partner, "Any ideas on where we should eat breakfast?"

Brennan shook her head but took hold of the GPS unit, "I'll just look for places in the area." She said fiddling with the buttons until she found a place that sounded reasonable. Setting up the destination she replaced the unit. "The Shady Point is just along our route, it sounds like it would be a pleasant place to go." She said.

Booth raised his eyebrow keeping his eyes trained to the traffic around them, "Shady Point sounds like a good place to go? Shady Point sounds like a place to leave the dead body." He joked, "And I'm telling you right now, if we see a dead body we're shipping it to the Jeffersonian and the squinterns can look it over."

"But Booth…"

"Nope, we're going to spend the rest of our trip together and then we're going to go home and spend the rest of the vacation time settling back into our home lives where Parker and I will no doubt have to rescue the lab from you, and then once our vacation time is over only then will we take the case back over from the squinterns and solve the case Booth and Bones style."

Brennan stared a hole into his head before shrugging her shoulders, "While I highly doubt that there will be a body at the restaurant just because the name isn't something that implies women will be in short shorts and tight tops, I will conclude to your direction that we'll send the unlikely remains back to the lab _after_ I do a quick overlook of the body before sending it to the lab."

Knowing that Brennan wouldn't want the crime scene messed with, and that she couldn't just not examine the bones he nodded, "If we come across skeletal remains on the remainder of our vacation, you can look them over before we ship them off to our more than capable team. But once we send the remains you're not allowed to follow up on them. Vacation time."

"Unless they need help, they can call me." She retorted.

"But only if they really need too, no telling them to call us day and night with any question they could probably handle on their own." Booth said making a turn after the electronic device told him too.

"Well, of course not, our team is highly intelligent. Just because we aren't there to make sure they are doing their work, doesn't mean it's not going to get done." She replied.

"I'm glad that's settled, can we not talk about bodies at the place we're gonna eat at?" Parker called from the back making the partners blush.

Brennan recovered first, "Your father just doesn't like the name, I think it's going to be a wonderful place to eat, and you can get your unhealthy meats there." She added earning a look of approval from the two companions in the car. The mood lifted drastically as they chatted about what they wanted to eat and what they wanted to do after finally making it to their hotel in a few hours. Booth felt all the tension seep from his body knowing that they'd come over another hurdle and they came out stronger than before. He knew deep down that they were going to make it, and it helped knowing that his partner had the faith in him to believe that they would come out winning on the other side.

**BBBBBB  
Please review and let me know how terrible this chapter turned out or didn't turn out, like I said I just couldn't bring myself to put words on the page so I hope it turned out okay.**

**I'll update soon, I feel like I've got some of my writing mojo back. **


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